Volume 11, No 2

The launch of negotiations for an EU-Australia ?free trade agreement? (FTA) on 18 June 2018 was a confirmation of a ?like-minded? strong partnership, in which both parties had high hopes for an ambitious agreement which would test the new wave of protectionism promoted by Donald Trump. Nonetheless, the initial rounds of negotiations revealed several issues which illustrate the scale of the challenge to be addressed. One such example was the issue of Geographical Indications (GI). The EU and its member states adopt an approach which is highly regulated and prescriptive to safeguard the authenticity of its produce and encourage rural development. Australia approaches this kind of intellectual property issue via a trademark system as well as a sui generis system to better capture the benefits of innovation. This paper analyses the challenges and opportunities an accord on GI?s could have for both regions, as revealed in the context of the EU-Australia negotiations. The paper claims that while an agreement on GI?s was an significant outcome for the overall FTA, the process adopted by the EU and Australia was in itself a reflection of the ambition for an amicable, dynamic and innovative negotiating process.

This article analyses the policy of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) towards the former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in the 1990s during the Yugoslav crisis. It argues that MOFA adopted an indirect foreign policy approach since it acted through the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to help foster the peace process. The article particularly focuses on the roles played by Yasushi Akashi, the head of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Sadako Ogata, through whom Japan provided aid during the humanitarian crisis. Japan exerted its preventive diplomacy to defuse tensions in the successor republics and to prevent the spread of the conflict to Macedonia and Albania. After the end of the conflict, Japan?s policy towards the region focused on post-conflict reconstruction and supporting the transition to prepare for the European integration process.

jehona.lushaku@uni-pr.edu

Abstract

This paper analyses the Europeanisation of Kosovo by focusing on conditionality and deliberation as EU enlargement tools. Despite the high presence of EU institutions in Kosovo, the EU does not recognize Kosovo as a country, but offers the possibility of integration as it currently does for all other Western Balkan countries. This paper analyses the way in which the EU applies conditionality towards Kosovo in the pre-accession period and the extent to which this is combined with deliberation. In order to measure conditionality and deliberation, I take as a case study the Stabilization Association Process Dialogue Meeting between EU and Kosovo. For conditionality I present my own methodology, whereas for deliberation I apply Discourse Quality Index (DQI). I conclude, that EU uses deliberation in the process of conditionality, whereas Kosovo representatives use conditionality very rarely.

Thierry Baudet?s remarkable success at the 2019 Dutch provincial elections was difficult to comprehend given the hitherto increasing popularity of the long-term dominant figure in Dutch far-right politics, Geert Wilders. Although both politicians preside over strikingly similar policy agendas, Wilders? supporters appeared to abandon him in favour of Baudet. This study attempted to investigate why Dutch far-right voters may have shifted their allegiance from Wilders?s Partij Voor de Vrijheid to Baudet?s Forum voor Democratie through a Discourse Historical Analysis of Baudet?s provincial elections victory speech and a corpus of Wilders? discursive texts. Prior to commencing this analysis, the study?s methodological approach for addressing such a complex topic was justified by means of demonstrating the close interrelationship between context, discourse and political strategy. The analysis discovered that Baudet distinguishes himself by constructing a less repressive guise for his party through careful characterisation of the Dutch identity rather than demonising the cultural enemy like Wilders and other leaders of the new right.

Since the signing of the European Coal and Steel Treaties, France and Germany have been linked as unlikely friends in Europe. This paper discusses the Franco-German relationship post WWII, defining the characteristics of a partnership that has defined the history of the European Union and has served as a foundation for peace and cooperation on a continent that has struggled to shake off constant war. This paper then analyzes the hypothesis that the Franco-German relationship is no longer the foundation stone of the European Union in two sections. First, this paper applies these characteristics of deepening integration, increased economic interaction and mutually beneficial cooperation to the present day EU and seeing whether they are still integral to interactions among member states. It then establishes the present day characteristics of the EU as ones of increased national sovereignty, as opposed to Franco-German methods of cooperation.