Search

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), despite being regarded as the most developed integration project in the post-Soviet area, has faced different hurdles in acquiring international recognition. Especially, the EU, the EAEU's Significant Other, has been reluctant to formally recognize it, in spite of close ties with EAEU member states as well as of its own self-image as a supporter of regional integrations. This paper focuses on this puzzle and examines how the EU has been discursively explaining its non-recognition of the EAEU at the institutional level. Based on the analysis of EU-articulated narratives since 2010, the paper reveals three dominant representations of the EAEU in the EU discourse: (1) Russia's geopolitical project; (2) a protectionist union; and (3) a dysfunctional union. These narratives have been used by Brussels to create the EAEU's image as a threatening Other, thus justifying why the EU cannot formally recognize the EAEU and officially engage with it. The paper also identifies five different stages of the EU's discursive representation of the EAEU since 2010, when its tone and content varied. The paper concludes that such non-recognition from the Significant Other still limits the EAEU's international agency despite its increasing interest in cooperation with non-Western actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses attitudes around the projection of the EU among Latin American elites, namely the determinants of support for a Free Trade Agreement between the two regions and the trustworthiness of the EU government. We take as data elite surveys conducted in 15 Latin American countries (2014–2019) and consider sociodemographics, ideology, support for democracy, views of foreign powers, exports to the EU, and electoral democracy. Results show that ideology and support for democracy are key determinants of support for an interregional FTA, and that the trustworthiness of governments in the US, China, and Spain covary with attitudes toward the EU. The latter (trust in the government in Spain) proves to be the main driver and, furthermore, its impact is conditional on the economic strength (observed as exports) of the EU: wherever the EU is not a strong economic actor in Latin America, trust in the Spanish government does nothing but improve the image of the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Which factors influence bilateral counterterrorism (CT) cooperation between EU Member States? Although scholars have studied European CT, the question still needs to be answered. This paper addresses the issue by introducing a new theoretical framework that combines CT and Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) literature. As citizens' threat perception increases, governments are pressed to act. Overall, centrist cabinets tend to rely more on cooperation agreements; likewise, pushed by threat perception, left-wing executives also recourse to international cooperation. I tested this framework on a newly collected dataset, which comprehends bilateral CT agreements signed among EU Members from 2002 to 2017. As such, this paper fosters studies on EU CT, focusing on a less debated issue: bilateral cooperation between EU Member States. The results support the initial hypotheses, disclosing a robust influence of threat perception and cabinet ideology on the number of bilateral CT agreements signed. Furthermore, they show that the perception of the threat is more influential on cooperation than the actual impact of terrorism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to shed light on the diverse role and place attributed to interreligious dialogue in the intercultural dialogue initiatives advanced by a wealth of international organisations over the last 20 years. It claims that the position of interreligious dialogue within these broader international efforts can be either blended, disjunct, autonomous or neglected, and that this variation primarily depends on how each organisation has dealt with both the position of the West-Islam juxtaposition in the definition and implementation of its intercultural dialogue agenda, and on its specific understanding of the relation between the concepts of culture and religion. Analysing the discourse, governance and policy dimensions of a wealth of such international organisations' initiatives, this paper provides a typology of existing approaches to interreligious dialogue which will further contribute exposing the underlying rationale behind intercultural dialogue efforts in international politics and untangling the fuzziness around this concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ibero-American supranational audiovisual policies were inspired by the EU media policy model and shared the idea of creating a regional audiovisual market to face Hollywood hegemony. The paper uses discursive media institutionalism and policy entrepreneur theory to assess whether the current discourse on digital media policies is largely history repeating itself or new ideas are being introduced. To analyze this crucial problem definition stage from a bottom-up perspective, the paper combines participatory observation in two film festivals and one industry event with qualitative document analysis and literature review. The findings reveal a combination of continuity and change where the policy transfer idea is still present, but the EU and its cultural discourse are no longer a reference. The overfocus on the economic perspective, and the inclusion of global players' discourse can threaten the development of cultural policies in the region, which are losing policy entrepreneurs support and space for debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an attempt to foster its citizens' identification with Europe, the European Union has made a great effort to identify what can be called 'common European heritage'. Many heritage initiatives, centred around the idea that heritage should be designated as European by the member states' heritage sectors, have proven counterproductive – instead of reaching their goal to construct a more stable European identity, they served as repositories of national pride and tools in the negotiation of nationalist claims of the member states. Through the empirical case of the EU's own Maastricht Treaty and the peculiar ways it became 'common European heritage' within the Dutch state heritage sector, in this paper we analyze the discursive tactics of national policy makers and the power dynamics between national and EU heritage regimes in the process of designating heritage as European. We demonstrate that even EU states with more constitutional traditions like the Netherlands maintain a powerful role in the construction of heritage as an unchangeable set of traditions and values strictly defined within the national boundaries, lacking the mechanisms to change their state-sanctioned and firmly established ways of defining heritage as 'national' and to legitimatize EU heritage narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a bottom-up perspective, cleavage theory links the socio-economic trends existing in the political community with the shape acquired by party politics. Globalization and European integration impacted European society, creating novel socio-economic divides and bringing new social, cultural and economic issues into the political discussion. The impact of the novel cleavage over the pre-existent societal socio-political fractures acquires a central role in the study of European Union politicization. Deploying critical discourse analysis (CDA) and discourse-historical approach (DHA), this study aims to comprehend how the emergence of a novel cleavage has influenced the discourse of the mainstream European parties. The manifestos of the European Christian democratic, socialist and liberal parties from the last three European Parliament elections are analyzed to assess the contemporary relevance of the left-right political competition in a scenario characterized by the salience gained by transnational issues and the electoral success of populist elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agreements on Next Generation EU (NGEU) and the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021–2027 (MFF 2021–2027) are extraordinary milestones for the EU integration process. Not only do both regulations have important redistributive effects within a defined timeframe, but both regulations shape the hierarchy of objectives and instruments of EU budgetary policies. This is particularly true for cohesion policy, which has been characterised as the model of EU multilevel governance (MLG). Drawing on historical institutionalism and Peter Hall's classification of policy change, this text examines the dynamics of change in MLG. In particular, this research looks at the timing and scope of changes in EU cohesion policy since the 1980s. We ask whether or not the adoption of NGEU and the MFF 2021–2027 is likely to represent a critical juncture for the MLG and to what extent both regulations modify objectives and instruments of cohesion policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) has developed cultural policy initiatives that seek to promote cultural Europeanization with the purpose of constructing European identity narratives and facilitating citizens' sense of belonging to Europe and the EU. The article focuses on the citizens' perspective to cultural Europeanization through ethnographic research on one central action in the EU cultural policy, European Heritage Label (EHL). We analyse the interviews conducted in selected EHL sites with Central and East European (CEE) citizens who were visiting the sites as well as with cultural heritage practitioners working at three EHL sites located in CEE countries. We ask how the practitioners and the visitors engage with European identity narratives and elaborate their European belonging. We especially scrutinize how everyday encounters and experiences, such as mobility, shape identifications with 'Europe' and perceptions of what is 'European'. The interviews are interpreted in the theoretical framework of 'being' and 'becoming' European. This framework indicates a centuries-long liminal position of the Central and Eastern Europe. It enables us to scrutinize CEE citizens' sense of belonging to Europe in an intersection of dual Europeanization, i.e. cultural Europeanization and 'Europeanization' of the CEE countries to overcome this liminal position and become 'true' Europeans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing attention to cultural participation of people with disabilities has been propelled by the entry into force of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Being strictly connected to the implementation of the CRPD, the focus on cultural participation of people with disabilities has accrued outside the remit of national cultural policy. This article carries out a thematic analysis of national disability strategies across 27 Member States of the European Union plus the UK and explores the extent to which these strategies can be considered rights-based cultural policy tools. It identifies four themes recurring across those strategies: enhancing accessibility of cultural heritage, cultural institutions and cultural content; supporting persons with disabilities as creators of culture; awareness-raising about cultural participation of persons with disabilities; and protecting disability identity and culture. It then discusses the measures linked to these themes that national disability strategies adopt. On the whole, this article argues that national disability strategies can be, to varying degrees, considered cultural policy tools, and display significant rights-based elements. It concludes with reflections on the broader implications of those findings for cultural policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the UK joined the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973, the European Union (EU) and the former EEC (incorporated in the EU in 1993) have been vital organs of solidarity and investment for the cultural system of the UK. The UK's arts sector has also benefitted from the single-market and visa-free work and travel. However, the UK's withdrawal from the EU means that the country, and its arts and creative sector, must adapt to a new context. By using interpretative argumentative techniques to analyse 30 interviews, and policy analysis, this article focuses on the manifold emotional, creative, and financial resilience strategies developed and trialled by the UK arts and cultural sector following the referendum result in June 2016. Those strategies suggest that some long-standing partnerships with EU countries will continue in the years to come, although not without issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of non-linear viewing habits calls for new regulation practices that extend beyond the current scope of traditional audiovisual regulators. Yet content quotas expressed as shares of a VOD service's catalogue are in the process of being implemented across the European Union. Somewhat inadequately, the same methods for regulating cultural diversity have crossed over from linear television to non-linear services. Only a vague mention of prominence in the European Union's AVMS Directive hints at a new, non-linear world, which regulators are ill-equipped to exert control over. We argue that the political ambition to promote European works comes up against unprecedented difficulties of application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]