Publications and Presentations

Publications

Presentations

    • Zuzana Lisoňová, prezentácia, 8th Annual International Conference on Politics and International Affairs (organized by Athens Institute for Education and Research), 21-24 June 2010, Athens Greece
    • Darina Malová, prezentácia, 8th Annual International Conference on Politics and International Affairs (organized by Athens Institute for Education and Research), 21-24 June 2010, Athens Greece
    • Darina Malová, The Impact of the New EU Members States on Eastern Dimension of the ENP,National Convention 2009, American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, 12.-15.11.2009, Boston, MA, USA
    • Vladimír Bilčík, Slovakia and EU Policy Towards the East, National Convention 2009, American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, 12.-15.11.2009, Boston, MA, USA
    • Vladimír Bilčík, Marek Rybář: Výrocná konferencia UACES "Exchanging Ideas on Europe", Angers, 3.-5. septembra 2009, Panel 508 "Preference Formation in the Enlarged European Union

    • Supported by: Agentúra pre vedu a výskum SR (Agency for Science and Research), APVV-0660-06
    • Research period: 01/2007-12/2009
    • Project title: New member states’ strategies in the EU: striking a new balance between intergovernmental and supranational decision-making? 
    • Principal investigator: Prof. Darina Malová, PhD.
    • Deputy: Marek Rybář, PhD.
    • Investigators: Vladimír Bilčík, PhD; Erik Láštic, PhD.
    • Research asistents: Mgr. Peter Dobiš; Mgr. Zuzana Lisoňová

    Project summary

    The 2004 enlargement of the EU resulted in a growth of the EU's internal heterogenity. Since all member states take part in every level of EU decision-making it is important to identify the ways in which countries arrive at their own priorities. This research contains of three main goals. 

    The first goal is an empirical identification of member states’ strategies of the new member states (NMS) from Central and Eastern Europe. We shall focus on the determination of national preferences based on member states’ preferred mode of decision-making at the EU level. We shall identify policy areas in which new member states either support further integration and are willing to pass competencies to supranational EU decision-making institutions or prefer intergovernmental modes of decision-making and safeguard their own national priorities and sovereignty.

    The second goal rests in the systematic research and determination of factors that chiefly condition the priorities and the behavior of new EU member states.

    The third, theoretical goal comes out of the empirical and comparative analysis of these factors and will lead to the build-up of typology of member states’ strategies and the types of membership among the NMS. Given the relatively short period of time since the last EU enlargement in May 2004, this is a new area of research not only in Slovakia but also in the international academic community. We are going to examine our three main goals through the following stages of research.

    First phase: Scrutiny of secondary literature and existing research (2/2007 – 12/2007):

    The first task is a critical analysis of the existing case studies about attitudes and priorities of the NMS, reflecting the theoretical works on factors influencing decision-making and governmental positions in the EU-15. The second parallel task will be an analysis and synthesis of predominantly secondary literature aimed at identifying and analyzing of determinants of domestic developments in the NMS. This phase will end in 2007.

    Second phase: Analysis of positions and their domestic sources (10/2007 – 4/2009)

    The second phase encompasses a content analysis of official documents evaluating developments in the NMS with an emphasis on sources of the governments of the NMS, the European Commission and the Council in three crucial periods: accession process, work of the Convention and negotiations of the IGC. The goal is to identify the positions of the NMS toward the most important issues and their key national priorities during these periods. At the same time we shall prepare and distribute an expert survey mapping the positions of main domestic political actors in the various contexts of the new member states’ EU membership and shall summarize its results. The phase will end in April 2009.

    Third phase: Synthesis of analysis and interviews, draft conclusions (7/2007 – 12/2009)

    In the third period we shall carry out a series of semi-structured interviews with representatives of the administrative structures of the NMS as well as with actors representing the EU (mainly the European Commission and the Council Secretariat). The goal will be to complement the picture of domestic determinants with a series of interviews with relevant representatives during six to eight short research trips to Brussels. We shall confront the views of the NMS in various policy areas with representatives of EU institutions. We shall also consult these positions with experts from the academic and think-tank communities in Brussels. We regard this phase as the most significant one both in terms of allotted time span and in terms of collected data.