Division of labour and specialization in EU foreign policy-making

Introduction: Foreign policy-making in the European Union (EU) often deviates from the formal rules and is largely characterized by processes of informal division of labour between member states and European institutions. Such informal processes, which result is foreign policy-making driven by specialization, have largely escaped the radar of EU foreign policy scholars, but are important for fully understanding how the EU functions in many foreign policy dossiers. This paper presents a framework for mapping the different manifestations of informal division of labour and for understanding its consequences for EU foreign policy

Analyzing European Union Politics

The speed and depth with which the European Communities/ European Union has evolved is breathtaking and has radically shaped the life of the continent. Ever since the beginning of this ambitious economic and political project, scholars around the world have tried to explain the underlying logic behind it and the mechanisms of its functioning. Thus, a plethora of studies developed alongside the evolution of the EU. SENT (Network of European Studies) is an innovative and ambitious project which brought together about 100 partners from the EU member states, candidate and associated countries, and other parts of the world. It was a far reaching project aimed to overcome disciplinary and geographical- linguistic boundaries in order to assess the state of EU studies today, as well as the idea of Europe as transmitted by schools, national politicians, the media, etc. SENT’s main goal was to map European studies, in order to get a comprehensive picture of the evolution of European studies over the last decades in different disciplines and countries. This approach permitted to achieve a better understanding of the direction these studies are now taking. Five disciplines were identified where EU studies have particularly evolved: law, politics, economics, history, and social and cultural studies. The mapping of EU studies thus includes a review of the most studied issues in EU studies today, the main academic schools, the most influential journals and books published, but it also shows how local realities and national identities affect the study and teaching of Europe around the world. In addition, an important work was done in mapping and discussing teaching methodologies in relation to European studies with the aim of introducing and diffusing the most up-to-date techniques

Turning the (virtual) world around: Patterns in saccade direction vary with picture orientation and shape in virtual reality

Research investigating gaze in natural scenes has identified a number of spatial biases in where people look, but it is unclear whether these are partly due to constrained testing environments (e.g., a participant with their head restrained and looking at a landscape image framed within a computer monitor). We examined the extent to which image shape (square vs. circle), image rotation, and image content (landscapes vs. fractal images) influence eye and head movements in virtual reality (VR). Both the eyes and head were tracked while observers looked at natural scenes in a virtual environment. In line with previous work, we found a bias for saccade directions parallel to the image horizon, regardless of image shape or content. We found that, when allowed to do so, observers move both their eyes and head to explore images. Head rotation, however, was idiosyncratic; some observers rotated a lot, whereas others did not. Interestingly, the head rotated in line with the rotation of landscape but not fractal images. That head rotation and gaze direction respond differently to image content suggests that they may be under different control systems. We discuss our findings in relation to current theories on head and eye movement control and how insights from VR might inform more traditional eye-tracking studies

Introduction. Use and Limitations of the Principal-Agent model in Studying the European Union

Given the omnipresence of delegation and control in the EU, the principal–agent model has become a popular analytical framework to study the design and effects of delegation and control. Yet, with the ascendance of governance as a mode of decision-making, the contemporary relevance of the principal–agent model became contested. We argue that the model still retains its relevance to study contemporary EU politics, but it requires researchers to follow a two-step approach. First, the hierarchical, dyadic relationship under study has to be clearly defined amidst a complex web of relations. Second, the conditions that have led to the observed pattern of delegation and/or the consequences of this pattern on the distribution of power between the principals and the agent can be inquired

Bureaucratic Politics, New Institutionalism and Principal-Agent Models

This chapter presents an overview of how three theoretical approaches - bureaucratic politics, new institutionalism and principal-agent models - have been applied to research on EU foreign policy and what their contribution is to this field. Employing a broad understanding of EU foreign policy, it not only discusses the application of these three theoretical perspectives to the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), but also examines research conducted on, for instance, trade policy or the EU's position in international institutions

Nog steeds de beste leerling van de klas? België en het Europees constitutionaliseringsproces

Tom Delreux deals with the role of Belgium in the EU constitutionalising process. Starting from the 2001 Belgian Presidency and the Laeken Summit and concluding with the ratification by the seven Belgian parliaments the author presents an overview of political implications of the Convention, the Inter-Governmental Conference and the ratification process in Belgium. He argues that Belgium's EU policy, both during the Convention and the IGC, was accurately coordinated and characterised by a large measure of continuity. Belgium has promoted, as was already witnessed during previous IGCs and treaty amendments, a stronger communautarian, federal structure for the EU. As this policy was generally supported by most political parties (except for the extreme right-wing Vlaams Belang), the Constitutional Treaty was ratified in national and regional parliaments with a large majority. So Belgium has remained one of the most pro-EU member states during the constitutionalising process

La politique environnementale et climatique : le rôle interne et externe de la Présidence belge

This chapter analyses the performance of the Belgian Presidency in the environmental policy area, focussing on its internal and external role. First, the Presidency’s internal role has a legislative and a non-legislative component. On the legislative front, the Presidency achieved its ambitions as far as the Regulation on the CO2 limitations of light commercial vehicles, the RoHS Directive and the Biocide Regulation are concerned. However, the decision-making process on the WEEE Directive did not result in an agreement, but these dynamics seemed to be out of the Presidency’s control. At the front of the non-legislative issues, the Presidency succeeded in reaching Council conclusions on its two priorities: sustainable materials management and better instruments for environmental governance. Second, the Presidency’s external role relates to its responsibility of guiding the EU through the international climate change conference in Cancún and the international negotiations on biodiversity in Nagoya. It successfully managed to bring both the internal coordination and the external representation to a good end. As the conclusion, this chapter lists a number of factors that have contributed to the Belgian Presidency’s success in the environmental area