Jean Monnet Chair

Informujemy, że członkowie zespołu JMC EUCRIS, dr Agnieszka Nitszke oraz dr Adam Kirpsza, wzięli udział w 12th EISA Pan-European Conference on International Relations. Konferencja odbyła się w dniach 12-15 września 2018 r. w Pradze i była zorganizowana przez stowarzyszenie EISA (European International Studies Association) we współpracy z CEEISA (Central and East European International Studies Association). Obydwoje uczestniczyli w panelu pt.The Visegrad Group Role in the European Union. Dr A. Nitszke przedstawiła razem z dr hab. Moniką Ślufińską paper pt. Activities of the Visegrad Group in the context of the CFSP of the EU. Natomiast dr A. Kirpsza zaprezentował referat pt. The Effect of Coalition-Building with the Visegrad Group, the Three Seas Initiative and Germany on Poland’s Success in EU Lawmaking.

Abstrakt papera dr Agnieszki Nitszke:

The Visegrad Group (V4), formed with the aim to support Central European countries – Poland, Czechoslovakia (since 1993 the Czech Republic and Slovakia) and Hungary in their efforts to join NATO and the European Communities, had to redefine its role and tasks after 2004 having achieved the set objectives in the first years of its existence. The new format of the Visegrad Group made provisions for a close cooperation between member states within the European Union. The strategy of combining potentials of the V4 states in negotiations on the EU level is based on reasonable assumptions, as it may lead to an increased significance of the region in the decision-making process. In the paper, the following research questions are subject to analysis: Q1. What are the common interests of the Visegrad Group member states?; Q2. Do the V4 member states manifest mutual loyalty in supporting their proposals and initiatives within the EU institutions?; Q3. What is the actual impact of V4 on the EU policy? The analysis of the commitment of V4 in the shaping of the EU CFSP will be based on source materials, mainly on documents produced by the authorities of the Visegrad Group such as presidency programmes, statements, declarations and annual reports.

Abstrakt papera dr. Adama Kirpszy:

The purpose of the paper is to examine whether and how coalition-building with the Visegrad Group, the so-called Three Seas Initiative and Germany influences Poland’s bargaining success in the European Union’s legislative decision-making. Building a coalition is defined as agreeing or presenting a common position during negotiations on a given legislative issue. In the first step, I delineate three hypotheses derived from spatial model theory and rational choice institutionalism, predicting that Poland is more likely to be successful in the EU lawmaking when it forms a coalition (has consistent preferences) with the members of the Visegrad Group (H1), the Three Seas Initiative (H2) or Germany (H3). In the second part, I use multiple linear regression to empirically verify these hypotheses. The calculations are conducted on the DEU II dataset which contains information on the policy positions of the member states’ representatives in the Council of the EU, the European Commission and the European Parliament on 331 controversial issues that were raised during negotiations of 125 important EU legislative acts. The dependent variable is Poland’s success measured as the absolute distance between its policy position and the final outcome on a particular issue. The analysis reveals that Poland is more likely to be successful in EU lawmaking when it forms a coalition (have, approximate or agree a common position on a given legislative issue) with Germany and within the Visegrad Group, albeit the effect of the latter alliance is smaller and does not always occur. By contrast, building the Three Seas Initiative coalition is not beneficial to Poland in terms of legislative gains.