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Anti-corruption in Moldova and Ukraine: A V4 Handbook of Best Practices

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Corruption is the most oft-cited obstacle in relations between the EU and two of its eastern partners, Moldova and Ukraine. Seeping through public and private exchanges alike, systemic corruption impedes sectoral reforms—a crucial element of modernisation. The handbook offers concrete case studies from the Visegrad countries’ anti-corruption policy tracks and proposes solutions on how Moldova and Ukraine can best capitalise on the EU’s expertise, financial assistance and political momentum in anti-corruption reforms to minimise risk and optimise success.

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Asserting the EU’s Mission in the Neighbourhood: Ten Recommendations for an Effective Eastern Partnership

Author(s): Kerry LONGHURST,Beata Wojna / Language(s): English

The authors consider that the EU needs to assert its role and mission in the Eastern neighbourhood with more vigour. To do this the Eastern Partnership needs to focus on the job of building up the rule of law and democracy in Eastern Europe. Though much has been achieved over the past two years, in terms of creating up the institutional framework for EaP, the reality is that democracy is back sliding in the region, corruption is endemic and social and economic catch-up of EaP countries towards EU levels is uncertain. Without fuller democratisation and promotion of the rule of law in the neighbourhood the implementation of EaP will be stunted.The Eastern Partnership holds the potential to do more but only if the EU develops a ‘democratic acquis’ replete with a precise reform agenda. Building up administrations and rooting out the sources and practices that perpetuate corruption should be a priority, twinned with a better capacity to support civil society and non-registered opposition groups and political parties, as envisaged in the European Endowment for Democracy. Negotiations on trade need to be accompanied by meaningful benefits and concessions that partner states can enjoy in the short and medium term if economies are to grow. Finally, to meet the expectations of those countries that value their European identities and where public support for the EU exists the effectiveness of EaP can be bolstered by stressing Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union. Emphasising a ‘European Perspective’ will remind partner states and EU members of the right that all European countries have to join the EU if they share EU values and fulfil economic and political membership criteria.

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Czy UE wyciągnęła wnioski z kryzysu na Ukrainie? Zmiany w rządzeniu w obszarze bezpieczeństwa, energii i migracji

Author(s): Jakub M. Godzimirski,Lidia Puka,Marta Stormowska / Language(s): Polish

„Wyzwanie, jakie kryzys ukraiński rzuca unijnej polityce zagranicznej i bezpieczeństwa, da się wymierzyć z wielką precyzją – chodzi o 50 metrów”. W tych słowach Jean-Claude Juncker, przewodniczący Komisji Europejskiej, nawiązał do odległości dzielącej brukselskie budynki Berlaymont (siedzibę Komisji) i J ustus Lipsius (miejsce regularnie zwoływanych szczytów przywódców krajów członkowskich). Spacer, jakiego wymaga przejście z jednej centrali do drugiej, stał się symbolem rozziewu politycznego między podejściem ogólnoeuropejskim a partykularyzmami narodowymi – rozziewu wywołującego konflikty wewnętrzne i zmniejszającego skuteczność systemu rządzenia w Unii Europejskiej. Kryzys rosyjsko-ukraiński, który rozpoczął się w 2013 r. i nabrał dynamiki w lutym i marcu 2014 r., podważył niepisane założenie, że konflikty militarne w E uropie to już temat dla historyków. Terminy, jakimi się go opisuje – powrót do Realpolitik, nowy podział Wschód–Zachód, nowa zimna wojna – stoją w sprzeczności z „miękkim”, ponowoczesnym podejściem do spraw międzynarodowych ze strony Unii Europejskiej. Kryzys, zbiegający się w czasie z początkiem nowego cyklu instytucjonalnego w Unii, wystawia na próbę zarówno jej odporność na zakłócenia zewnętrzne, jak i skuteczność działania wewnątrz organizacji. Ale trzeba też pamiętać, że szok wywołany zdarzeniami zewnętrznymi – jako że ujawnia potrzebę zwiększenia skuteczności prowadzonej polityki – może przyczynić się do poprawy wewnętrznego systemu rządzenia.

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DAV4 II Report: From Battlegroup to Permanent Structures

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Polish Institute of International Affairs presents a joint policy report: From Battlegroup to Permanent Structures, prepared in the framework of the research project Defence Austerity in the Visegrad Region II – DAV4 II, funded by the Interantional Visegrad Fund (IVF). The authors of the report argue, that the EU Battlegroup build together by the Visegrad countries and scheduled to enter standby in 2016, should be followed by permanent forms of defence and military cooperation between Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. The policy report, which also aims to contribute to the debate about the future of the EU Battlegroups, was prepared by Central European Policy Institute (Slovakia), in cooperation with PISM (Poland), International Centre for Democratic Transition (Hungary) and Jagello 2000 (Czech Republic).

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DAV4 II Report: Region’s quest for inclusive cyber protection

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Polish Institute of International Affairs presents a joint policy report: Region’s Quest for Inclusive Cyberprotection, prepared in the framework of the research project Defence Austerity in the Visegrad Region II – DAV4 II, funded by the Interantional Visegrad Fund (IVF). The authors of the report argue, that the Visegrad countries could become an avant-garde of cyberdefense policy, if only they decided to include cybersecurity in the agenda of their political consultations and practical collaboration. The policy report, which also aims to contribute to the debate about the the landscape of threats in cyberspace, was prepared by Central European Policy Institute (Slovakia), in cooperation with PISM (Poland), International Centre for Democratic Transition (Hungary) and Jagello 2000 (Czech Republic).

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Documents Talk NATO-RUSSIA relations after the cold war

Author(s): / Language(s): English

(...) regardless of the adopted perspective of an observer or analyst, and optimism/pessimism related to NATO-Russia relations, they will remain a key aspect of international security. This necessitates the search for “source knowledge” and “decoding” numerous stereotypes and simplifications that these relations have overgrown for the last quarter century. One must not forget the calculated and deliberate disinformation that Russia has been practising regarding its relations with the Alliance. It consistently uses the myth of “betrayal of the West”, blaming NATO nations for being the primary cause of the current state of NATO-Russia relations. It is not our task in this volume to explain the nature of these problems exhaustively, nor to discuss the structure of modern Russian political mythology. However, the significant dispersion of “first-hand” sources raises the bar of problems confronting researchers of NATO-Russia relations. Therefore, this volume attempts at gathering key open-source documents produced by both sides and arranging them into a representative whole to provide a better understanding of the “big picture” (...). The emerging picture of political thinking and policy justifications offers the power of beating back many stereotypical opinions (...)

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Doing Business with Tigers: Trends, Features and Prospects for Poland’s Trade with Asia

Author(s): Artur Gradziuk,Patryk Toporowski / Language(s): English

Should a new opening be expected in Poland’s relations with the Asian countries? The current trade statistics suggest that this cannot be ruled out.In 2011, the value of Polish exports to Asian markets rose by €1 billion against 2011, and Polish entrepreneurs now seem less fearful when starting a business there.For Asian countries in turn cooperation with Poland is becoming the key to the European market. These issues are examined by our researchers Artur Gradziuk and Patryk Toporowski in the latest PISM report "Doing Business with Tigers: Trends, Features and Prospects for Poland's Trade with Asia." The authors of the report stress that alongside China, the number one trading partner in Asia, other Asian markets, in particular India and Kazakhstan, are also important for the Polish exporters. Poland’s presence in Japan and South Korea is growing, and trade with Asia is beneficial in particular for the Polish chemical, cosmetic, food and machinery industries.A report is a part of the project „Trade with Asia - An Opportunity For Visegrad Countries?” (no 11220101) financed by the International Visegrad Fund. The other project partners are: EUROPEUM, Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Slovak Academy of Sciences.

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Dyplomacja samorządowa. Efektywność i perspektywy rozwoju

Author(s): Adriana Skorupska / Language(s): Polish

Local government diplomacy is increasingly becoming a significant tool for local development and an instrument of foreign policy. This is among the conclusions of the PISM report “Dyplomacja samorządowa. Efektywność i perspektywy rozwoju” [Local Government Diplomacy: Effectiveness and Prospects], released in the “Year of Self-Government”, which commemorates the 25th anniversary of local government reform in the country. Polish democratic efforts on the local level and the ability to use European funds have become a form of export product. Local government professionalism generates pragmatism in foreign relations, corresponding to a decrease in the number of random contacts. Local governments in Poland withdraw from agreements that do not result in benefits. Such cooperation now must serve a particular purpose that may translate into concrete actions and, in many cases, is treated as a long-term investment. Modern local government can also support such important foreign policy goals as the planned reforms in Ukraine. How so? Find out in PISM’s latest publication.

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Dyplomacja samorządowa. Przykład Wielkopolski

Author(s): Adriana Skorupska / Language(s): Polish

Wielkopolska region remains one of the most active in international contacts, with over 63% of local government bodies cooperating with foreign partners and another 19% planning to launch international cooperation in the near future. German local governments hold a special place among foreign partners, as nearly three-fourths of Wielkopolska’s local authorities cooperate with their German counterparts. The decline in the number of partners from Western Europe is accompanied by more intensive contacts with local governments from the neighboring countries and Hungary, and enhanced cooperation with Eastern Partnership and Asian countries, especially with China, is a likely prospect.

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EU and Its Southern Neighbours: New Challenges for the European Neighbourhood Policy

Author(s): Beata Wojna / Language(s): English

The violent, unprecedented socio-political changes in North Africa and the Middle East—the stepping down of Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, the anti-Qaddafi insurgency in Libya and people rallying for change in the other Arab states—prompt a revision of the EU’s approach to its southern neighbours. The present situation offers significant opportunities in this regard, even if the Arab transformations give rise to justified concerns about their further development and regional consequences.In the EU and its member states a debate is underway on the future of the EU’s policy towards the southern neighbours. The debate coincides with an across-the-board review of the European Neighbourhood Policy, the findings of which will be unveiled very soon by High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. This report is an attempt at an answer to the political and financial dilemmas of the EU’s policy towards the southern neighbours. It puts forward recommendations on ways to support states in the region in their process of democratic transition, drawing also on the transition experiences of some member states. It also points to actions to be taken by the EU and its member states to maintain a balance between the southern and eastern dimensions of the European Neighbourhood Policy.

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EU Communication Policy in Its Neighbourhood in Light of Third-Party Propaganda

Author(s): / Language(s): English

Due to mounting Russian propaganda in the eastern neighbourhood and in the Baltic states, the EU set up a task force (East StratCom) in September to counter stereotypes about the Union disseminated by the Moscow apparatus. This is a step in the right direction, but a drop in the ocean of needs. The Union still allocates sparse resources to support independent media operating in Russian and in local languages. EU delegations face staff shortages in communication units, especially those covering social media, while the budgets of those units remain small in comparison to the countries covered by enlargement policy. This report examines the limitations of EU communication in the neighbourhood and draws on the experience of EU delegations to provide recommendations for building an image of the Union understandable to ordinary people.

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France and the Future of the European Union

Author(s): / Language(s): English

At the EU level, President Hollande is attempting to distance himself from his predecessor by putting emphasis on growth measures, as a supplement to the austerity policies opposed by some southern European states, and by opening up the Franco-German tandem to new players, notably the southern members but also those to the east. Franco-German disagreements concerning current EU issues, notably the scope of the banking union and the solidarity agenda towards the south, are negotiable. In relation to the future of the European project, however, besides a shared reluctance to deepen EU integration and an acceptance for strengthening eurozone governance in a multispeed format, the two countries barely share a common vision. This lack of a shared vision is, however, partly the result of a difficult domestic situation that plays a vital role in Hollande’s EU policy. The president has to face the challenge of restoring growth to the French economy and addressing deep French euroscepticism as well as arriving at consensus on EU policy within his own Socialist Party (PS), riven by splits since the debate on the Constitutional Treaty. Common Security and Defence Policy is, by contrast, an area of continuity, and no major change is expected in France’s involvement in developing the policy. Indeed, due to defence budget constraints, the focus will be a pragmatic one on developing concrete cooperation in the industrial field in a bilateral or trilateral format. Partnership with Poland would be fruitful.

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From Lisbon to Europe 2020. Lisbon Strategy Implementation in 2010: Assessments and Prospects

Author(s): Marcin Koczor,Paweł Tokarski / Language(s): English

Polish Institute of International Affairs published a report "From Lisbon to Europe 2020. Lisbon Strategy implementation in 2010: Assessments and Prospects" by Marcin Koczor and Paweł Tokarski. The publication contains the evaluation of the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy for 2010, a summary of the entire duration of the strategy and describes the place of the current EU economic strategy, Europe 2020, in the process of economic governance reform. The report also includes conclusions and recommendations for the current strategy – Europe 2020.

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GoodGov – lepsze rządzenie dzięki bliższej współpracy Współpraca polsko-norweska dla większej skuteczności polityki energetycznej, migracyjnej i bezpieczeństwa

Author(s): Jakub M. Godzimirski,Zuzanna Nowak,Krzysztof Kasianiuk,Lidia Puka,Marcin Terlikowski / Language(s): Polish

W niniejszym raporcie przedstawiono główne wnioski z projektu badawczego, realizowanego w latach 2013–2016 przez Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych (PISM) i Norweski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych (NUPI) przy współpracy Instytutu Studiów Politycznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk (ISP PAN). Ponadto zaprezentowano dorobek projektu, oceniono jego znaczenie dla polityki i wskazano ujawnione w trakcie badań luki w wiedzy, które powinny stać się przedmiotem kolejnych badań. Projekt GoodGov pokazał istotne różnice między Polską a Norwegią w dziedzinie rządzenia (governance). Wynikają one z wzajemnego oddziaływania szeregu czynników wewnętrznych i zewnętrznych, m.in. historycznych doświadczeń, zależności od ścieżki rozwoju, położenia geograficznego, dostępu do zasobów naturalnych, a także rozwiązań instytucjonalnych oraz przynależności do organizacji i struktur międzynarodowych. Te ostatnie, m.in. Unia Europejska (UE) i Europejski Obszar Gospodarczy (EOG), zasługują na szczególną uwagę, ponieważ wyznaczają własne priorytety, reguły i rozwiązania, rzutujące – zarówno bezpośrednio, jak i pośrednio – na rządzenie na szczeblu narodowym w Polsce i Norwegii.

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GoodGov: Work Together, Govern Better Polish and Norwegian Cooperation towards More Efficient Security, Energy and Migration Policies

Author(s): Jakub M. Godzimirski,Krzysztof Kasianiuk,Zuzanna Nowak,Lidia Puka,Marcin Terlikowski / Language(s): English

This report presents the main findings of the research project conducted between 2013 and 2016 by the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), with support from the Institute for Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (ISP PAN). It also maps the project’s achievements, examines its policy relevance and identifies various knowledge gaps revealed during the study that should be addressed by new research. The GoodGov project has revealed important governance-related differences between Poland and Norway. These result from the interaction of various internal and external factors, including historical experience and path dependence, geographical location and the challenges it poses, various types of resources and access to them, institutional solutions and membership in various international organisations and frameworks. The latter, such as the EU and the EEA, are of special note as they set their own governance-related priorities, rules and solutions that have both a direct and indirect bearing on national governance in Poland and Norway.

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Has the EU Learnt from the Ukraine Crisis? Changes to Security, Energy and Migration Governance

Author(s): Jakub M. Godzimirski,Lidia Puka,Marta Stormowska / Language(s): English

“The challenge the Ukrainian crisis poses to the European Union’s foreign and security policy can be precisely measured: 50 metres.” The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, was talking about the distance between the Commission’s Berlaymont headquarters in Brussels and the Justus Lipsius building where the heads of EU governments hold their regular summits. Juncker’s is a rather technocratic perspective certainly, but the long walk between the two headquarters is a symbol of a political divide, between the European action and particularist national interests, the cause of internal conflicts and probably also lower governance efficiency in the EU. The Russian-Ukrainian crisis that began unfolding in November 2013 and escalated in February and March 2014 has undermined the unspoken assumption that military conflict in Europe had been confined to the past. The upheaval has been labelled a “return to realpolitik,” “a renewed East-West division,” or “a new Cold War”—terms that directly challenge the EU’s soft and post-modern means of handling international relations. Coinciding with the beginning of a new institutional cycle of the European Union, the crisis has put the bloc’s resilience to external disruptions, as well as its internal efficiency, to the test. And yet, external shocks often result in positive shifts and improvements of internal governance, as they highlight the need to both formulate and conduct successful policies.

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IDEAS Report: Towards a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community. From Vision to Reality

Author(s): / Language(s): English

We are pleased to announce the release of the final report of the IDEAS project “Towards a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community. From Vision to Reality”. The report includes an assessment of the current strategic environment in and around the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian regions, proposes a set of guiding principles for the development of the strategic community, and offers concrete proposals for increased cooperation in three areas: security, economic and environmental, and the human dimension. The report was presented at the forum of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). IDEAS (Initiative for the Development of a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian Security Community) is a joint Track-2 project by the Centre for OSCE Research (CORE, Hamburg), the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (Paris), the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Russian Foreign Ministry (MGIMO), initiated by the ministers of foreign affairs of Germany, France, Poland and the Russian Federation. The PISM representative in the IDEAS Drafting Group is Łukasz Kulesa, the head of the Non-proliferation and Arms Control Project.

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India and Poland: Vistas for Future Partnership. A report from the 3rd Roundtable of the Polish Institute of International Affairs and the Indian Council of World Affairs

Author(s): / Language(s): English

The Polish Institute of International Affairs, in cooperation with the Indian Council of World Affairs, held the third bilateral seminar entitled India and Poland: Vistas for Future Partnership, on May 17, 2012. The event gathered around 50 diplomats, officials, analysts and academics from both countries, including Poland’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Jerzy Pomianowski, and the Indian Ambassador to Poland, Ms. Monika Kapil Mohta. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss perspectives on strengthening bilateral cooperation between Poland and India. The conference addressed the following three crucial issues: prospects for a “strategic partnership”, defence and economic cooperation, and perceptions and policies regarding major regional and global challenges.

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Indie w procesie reform: szanse dla Polski

Author(s): Patryk Kugiel / Language(s): Polish

Indie są dziś jednym ze wschodzących mocarstw, które będą wywierały rosnący wpływ na globalną gospodarkę i politykę. To siódmy największy kraj na świecie pod względem terytorium i drugi pod względem liczby mieszkańców (ponad 1,3 mld). To też siódma gospodarka w wartościach bezwzględnych i trzecia pod względem parytetu siły nabywczej (purchasing power parity, PPP). Z tempem wzrostu PKB powyżej 7% w 2016 r., rozwijała się najszybciej wśród państw G20, szybciej niż Chiny. To też potęga militarna, kraj mający broń jądrową, drugą największą armię i będący głównym na świecie importerem uzbrojenia. To w końcu największa ludnościowo demokracja świata.

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Is a New Cold War Inevitable? Central European Views on Rebuilding Trust in the Euro-Atlantic Region

Author(s): Martina Heranová,Zdzisław Lachowski,Raimonds Rublovskis / Language(s): English

When the idea to invite Central European experts to share their views on overcoming the acute deficit of trust in the relationship between the West and Russia first originated in early 2014, there was still some hope that the Ukraine crisis would not mark the beginning of a new period of confrontation in Europe. With that in mind, PISM asked the authors not only to comment on the state of the relationship with Russia but also to assess to what extent various proposals (including Carnegie’s Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative papers and the 2013 report by U.S., Russian and European experts, “Building Mutual Security in the Euro-Atlantic Region”) regarding military confidence building and arms control dialogue with Russia would advance the security of Central European countries. However, as the situation deteriorated with Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for eastern Ukraine separatists, the focus inevitably had to turn from dealing with the symptoms (mutual mistrust) to addressing the root causes of the spat between Russia and the West, which now threatens the very foundations of the European security system. Previous approaches to mending the relationship, such as those focused on finding areas of cooperation based on common interests (e.g., dealing with terrorism or the Iranian nuclear programme), were unlikely to be sufficient.

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Series:PISM Reports