In 1998 Sweden accepted the Treaty of Amsterdam which contained a development of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) towards a European security and defense policy (ESDP). This thesis aims at studying the decision making process behind the Swedish foreign policy decision to further develop its security policy within the European Union. The purpose is to explain which factors and conditions that did affect and influence the Swedish foreign policy decision. The research applies foreign policy analysis, a theoretical perspective that analyzes both domestic and international conditions using different levels of analysis. The research methods being used has been qualitative as well as quantitative, complemented by interviews, since the research is a process tracing case study.The thesis conclusion is that the Swedish decision is explained by several factors.

Freedom of religion or belief is indisputable in Human rights discourse, more discussed is exactly what it is that is included in the concept of freedom of religion or belief (in Swedish: religionsfrihet). This thesis focuses on the freedom of religion or belief in a European context, in particular on the European court of human rights and article 9 in the European convention for human rights. Some criticism has been directed against the Court to the effect that its practice and verdicts don't answer to the pronounced desire to develop a pluralistic and inclusive form of freedom of religion or belief.My aim is to examine, analyse and test three different theories, which all try to develop alternatives to the expression freedom of religion or belief, in relation to six verdicts from article 9 in Europe convention. My basic purpose is to try to find new ways of talking about freedom of religion or belief that might lead to a more inclusive, pluralistic and equal interpretation of that concept.The three theories wich I use are elaborated by Richard Amesbury (associate professor at Claremont school of Theology); Hugo Strandberg (TD at Åbo Akademi) and Eberhard Herrmann (professor in philosophy of religion at Uppsala University); and Martha Nussbaum (professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago). The six cases from the European court are: X v.

The activity of interest groups in the political process of the European Union has given rise to a broad debate concerning the effect on European democracy these groups have. As relatively powerful political actors, the question of these groups? views on the EU and how the union should be is an important one. The status of these groups owns democratic representation also affects the democratic status of the EU. Being based on a number of theories, this study adopts an ideology analysis for the purpose of testing these theories on two cases ? the Swedish environmental organizations World Wide Fund for Nature and The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.

The ambition of this study is to examine the discussion surrounding the Swedish participation in the European security- and defence policy. By forming feasible areas of arguments the goal is to gain further comprehension in the case of Sweden. These arguments are formed in close relation to the empirical sources; With less public funding there are economic aspects of cooperation, this could also be related to Swedish the industry of defence systems; A high level of participation in the UN is a tradition in Swedish foreign policy, the European battle groups are the perfect tool to further strengthen the UN ability in conflict management and peace keeping missions; Outside the EMU Sweden could face the political margin, to retain influence a high level of activity ought to occur in the integration process; Finally, the future position of United States and NATO is not clear, Europe needs an capacity apart the US to contribute to lasting peace and stability. The arguments are close related to each other, but the main argument is to through ESDP create a tool that will strengthen UN, there is also a wide range of economic arguments related to the industry..

After the appointment of a new European Commission in 2004, ?communication? was made a top priority on the agenda. The Commission presented a new communication policy, which would establish a dialogue with the citizens, thereby bringing more democracy to the union and bridging the gap to the citizens. Three documents containing the policy were published, namely an internal action plan for the Commission, Plan D which establishes the framework for national debates and a whitepaper on EU communication policy. These documents were met by mistrust and criticism from many different actors such as journalists and experts.The aim of this master thesis is to examine this new communication policy from a deliberative democratic perspective.

Freedom of religion or belief is indisputable in Human rights discourse, more discussed is exactly what it is that is included in the concept of freedom of religion or belief (in Swedish: religionsfrihet). This thesis focuses on the freedom of religion or belief in a European context, in particular on the European court of human rights and article 9 in the European convention for human rights. Some criticism has been directed against the Court to the effect that its practice and verdicts don't answer to the pronounced desire to develop a pluralistic and inclusive form of freedom of religion or belief.My aim is to examine, analyse and test three different theories, which all try to develop alternatives to the expression freedom of religion or belief, in relation to six verdicts from article 9 in Europe convention. My basic purpose is to try to find new ways of talking about freedom of religion or belief that might lead to a more inclusive, pluralistic and equal interpretation of that concept.The three theories wich I use are elaborated by Richard Amesbury (associate professor at Claremont school of Theology); Hugo Strandberg (TD at Åbo Akademi) and Eberhard Herrmann (professor in philosophy of religion at Uppsala University); and Martha Nussbaum (professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago). The six cases from the European court are: X v.

The aim of this study is to examine the collection One Thousand and One Nights (also: The Arabian Nights) from a european perspective, by comparing different european translations. The study focuses on three translations into Swedish from different periods of time and how the tales have changed in the translation process - depending on the prevailing line of approach and Western perceptions of Eastern standards. The thesis of the study is that Eastern culture, from a Western perspective, has been seen as exotic and different but not as a high literary culture and that this view has affected the translations into european languages. The study shows, among other things, that Western culture is many times considered normative in the translations and that the translators often give their own voices a prominent role, also that common Western notions of the East affects the translations.The word ?orientalism? is used frequently in the study and it refers primarily to the image of the Orient as it is described in Edward Saids' book Orientalism: as a Western construction whose main purpose is to strengthen its own conception of the Orient and thereby strengthen the Western identity as better than the Orient.

The main aims of this study is from a gender perspective identify possible reasons why so many men compared to women visited the European football Championship in Poland/Ukraine 2012. The study also aims to classify European Championship visitors from their primary purpose with the trip.To be able to answer the study's purpose and issues, it is important that we get an understanding of the phenomenon so that we can clearly express an opinion on this phenomena. This meant that we chose to use qualitative methods designed to give a deeper insight into what is being investigated. We made use of both deep, email and telephone interviews with our respondents. The six respondents are evenly distributed between the sexes.

Development of morphs within European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus), might be considered as a beginning of a sympatric speciation process. Unpublished data suggests that presence of the keystone piscivore northern pike (Esox lucius) is the main driver of sympatric divergence in European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus). Using introduced whitefish populations as controlled experiments, it is possible to determine when different characters diverge in the speciation process. In this study, I analysed age and growth within European whitefish populations of different age to assess if these characters change over time in absence of pike. With using otoliths from whitefish populations of different age, I was possible to determine individual age, and by measuring the length of the fish, growth was calculated.

The main purpose of this study is to examine celebrity candidates in the European Parliament election in Sweden and Finland. The theoretical background assumes that candidate voting is beneficial in the election to the European Parliament. Previous research also shows that there are some opponents towards candidate voting, claiming it personalizes politics and it might lead to celebrities getting elected simply because they are well known to the voters.This study is a comparative analysis and analyzes the differences between Sweden and Finland when it comes to celebrity candidates. Furthermore, Max Weber?s theory on leadership will be used to categorize the celebrity candidates further.

This thesis aims to describe and characterise the foreign policy change the United States has experienced towards Europe. This thesis claims that the United States is presenting a more supportive attitude today towards the development of the European Union. This more positive attitude has developed during successive U.S. administrations and has become visible since the end of the Cold War.Washington is today less ambiguous and less ambivalent towards the integration of Europe. The United States appreciate that a common foreign- and security policy in Europe is in accordance with American interests.

The intention of this study is to perform a content analysis based on a theoretical framework founded on multi-level governance, MLG. The thesis examines the formal changes within employment politics between 1999 and 2004 (Sweden´s action plan for employment) and 1998 and 2007 (the spring budget proposition). I will investigate how multi-level governance has effected the Swedish employment politics. Furthermore, the purpose of the thesis and the questions under consideration are: How have the formal structures within Swedish employment politics changed since Sweden?s admission to the European union, particularly during the periods 1997-2008 and 1999-2004? And: How do the changes in Sweden, together with the European union directive concerning employment, coincide in the so-called employment strategy?While performing the analysis I have focused on multi-level governance.

The aim of this essay was to study the European Union?s (EU) role as a democracy promoter and its impact on Croatia?s democratization process. Croatia is a candidate country for membership in the EU which creates a possibility for impact and democracy promotion. The aim is met by studying the following questions:  In what way has the EU promoted democracy in Croatia? How did Croatia respond? To what extent has the EU contributed to Croatia?s democratization process?  Croatia is treated as a case study of the EU?s democracy promotion and the method used was qualitative text-analysis.

The first aim of this study is to examine what the differences are between the Classic directive (directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts) and the Revised Classic directive (directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC) when it comes to social considerations in public procurement. The second aim is to examine if the revision of the directive has solved the prior existing problems regarding social considerations in public procurement. In this paper a traditional European legal method is used. The examinations show a number of things, including the Revised Classic directive involving codification of case law, references to other sources of law and some clarified rules as well as new provisions. The regulations regarding reserved contracts, technical specifications, and selection criterion are satisfied in the Revised Classic directive.

The aim of this paper is to explain how the European Union?s common strategy for theCommon Foreign- and Security Policy (CFSP) will change with the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon. A comparative case study and qualitative method is used. On the basis of Smith?s theory of institutionalization we will analyze two member states: France and Denmark.