This essay examines the European Union?s (EU) ability to play a leading role as a global actor on the world stage in international relations. Specifically, this essay studies the EU?s role of negotiator in the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.  This essay also analyzes explanations for this role. Research is based on case studies, with conclusions drawn using an inductive approach.

IKEA is probably one of the most well known Swedish companies in the world. During thepast decades millions of people all across the globe have decorated their homes according tothe style of IKEA. But just exactly how big and influential are they? Many, if not to say all,municipalities in Sweden wants IKEA to establish and build their famous stores in one oftheir towns. But at what cost? When deciding on a municipality to establish in, IKEAnormally tends to have an advantage when it comes to controlling the conditions and terms ofthe establishment.To undertake this dissertation I use a theory based upon the inter-organizational theoriescalled resource dependency theory.

The most important conclusion of this study is that the negotiations between the parties ends when conflicts arise from property owners, and with this the time will be extended and be more costly. During the study it has been shown that good communication is the key to an effective and successful negotiation between the parties.The purpose of this study is to investigate how the practical procedure under expropriation is in relation to the legal text, in other words, describe and analyze the procedure for expropriation under current rules but also to explain how it operated in practice. This is to get a picture of how the process works and what effects it receives.Three methods were used for the study. A literature review for understanding how expropriation relates according to the law. A case study from an ongoing expropriation in Sundsvall municipality, and an interview with seven affected interested parties from the expropriation.Reviewed literature describes how the application of the Expropriation Act must go to as well as other research on the topic.

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the retrieval effectiveness on the European Unions official website EUROPA, depending on which language is used to formulate the search question. Our main concern were if you get access to the same information depending on which language is used to search information The European Union has so far eleven official languages, and with the forthcoming expansion with negotiations with thirteen new countries to affiliate to the union by May 1:st 2004, the official languages will be even more. We have made a comparison between Swedish and English, using 29 different topics from which we formulated 2x29 queries. The topics used were found at the Swedish Governments FAQ about the European Union, EUsvar. We wanted the topics to be as authentic as possible to avoid bias.

This case study explores the question of implementation and steering in a society of governance. As an empirical example, a reform concerning the reception of separated refugee children in Sweden is used. As of the 1st of July 2006 the responsibility for providing housing for separated children lies with the local governments rather than with the Swedish Board of Migration, aiming to improve the children's situation. However, implementing this amendment has turned out to be a harder task than expected. Traditionally, the relationship between state and local actors is seen in terms of state steering or local self-government.

This thesis examines why working time preferences differ between workers and nations, and explains the effect of working time regulation and working time flexibility on negotiating work-life balance. In five separate sections the following working time issues are examined: the number of hours worked by workers in Europe; factors affecting individual working time preferences; how working time preferences are negotiated in the national industrial relations systems of Sweden, France and the United Kingdom; how the institutions of the European Union have influenced working time negotiations through the Working Time Directive; and the benefits and practices available to organisations implementing working time flexibility. Broadly this paper views working time preferences as being a highly personal and influenced by factors such as wages, taxation, culture (national and workplace) and non-work responsibilities. It is argued that negotiating a preferred working time pattern is essential to achieving work-life balance and when such a balance is achieved, workers are more healthy, motivated and committed to their employer. Essentially this provides an incentive for businesses to voluntarily implement working time flexibility beyond the regulatory standards..

Recently, retailers within the Swedish grocery retail sector have launched lines of products under its own brand, quite often produced by manufactures within the same category of products. The common term of this phenomenon is called private labels. Therefore, private labels could be seen as competitors against branded goods, despite the fact that it is, in several cases, the same manufacturer who produces each of the products.The main purpose of this study is to provide understanding of how the manufacturers choose to position themselves, formulate their strategies and compete on the market among private labels, also to examine the motive behind the manufacturer's choice to produce private labels. The study intends to provide a broader view of how the interaction between manufacturers, retailers, private labels and branded goods appears on the Swedish market. We decided to use a qualitative research method and personal interviews to approach the study.

The purpose of this research is to identify how E-NGO and forest stakeholders, in the study referred to as non-state actors, have influenced the EU timber regulation; through participation and lobbyism towards the decision- makers (policy makers) at EU and national level, to achieve adjustments in the legislative text. The study also examines the relationships between the forest stakeholders, the E-NGOs and the EU-institutions, regarding communication, cooperation, informal and formal consultation where interviews were accomplished with decision-makers from the EU-institutions, forest stakeholders, E-NGOS and representatives from Swedish authorities that participated under the development of the EUTR during the period of 2008-2013. The participation and lobbying from non-state actors have most likely affected the outcome of the regulation, through alterations in the legislative text and through influencing the EU-institutions. Several factors that have affected the efficiency and timing of the influence have been identified through interviews as well as various approaches to influence the decision makers. The findings of the study may be useful for forest related interest groups that are involved in decision-making procedures at EU-level and as substance and material for further research in the subject of forest policy making at supranational level..

This comparative case study, which is based on a most similar system design,investigates why the Chávez government has attained a lower degree of democracy than the Kirchner and the Lula governments. In order to develop asupplementary theory about why governments in general achieve various degrees of democracy I compare these governments and examine what policies that differ them and why. My results show that these governments? policies differ concerning the rule of law, militarization, and negotiations with economic groups and anti-regime parts of civil society. I have found numerous answers to why some of these governments (and governments in general) have democratic policies within these four areas and why some do not.

Idag är debatten om läxor vanligt förekommande i såväl skolans sfär som i media och inom politiken. Dessa debatter kan ses som ett sätt att skapa en normalitet, och en strävan efter att få fler att ansluta sig till de olika parternas uttalade uppfattningar om läxans förekomst. Tillsammans med denna debatt utgör läroplanen några av de normer som skolans aktörer ska förhålla sig till gällande läxorna. Trots att läxan inte nämns i läroplanen så lever läxan vidare och vi väljer därför att betrakta läxan som en norm, som följs av inte bara skolans aktörer och eleverna utan även av föräldrar. Även fast läxan i huvudsak berör eleven anser vi att elevernas talan om läxor inte representeras i de debatter som förs, och vi undrar därför; var är elevernas talan om läxor?Vi har därför valt att anta ett elevperspektiv och använder oss av en diskursanalytisk ansats för att förmedla deras uppfattningar om läxor.

The frequency of innovative procurement is currently very low in Sweden. Innovative procurement is to procure unknown solutions to a defined problem or need for which it sometimes has not yet been established on the market.  Current Swedish procurement legislation does not prevent innovation procurement, however, it limits official authorities to actively work with innovative companies to develop new solutions. Furthermore, some conflicts arise between the Swedish procurement legislation and the basic principles concerning public procurement developed under EU law, which must be considered in all procurements. Additionally, there is not a specific procurement procedure designed for innovative solutions in the current legislation.On the 15th of January 2014 three new directives on procurement rules were adopted with the general objective to simplify the procurement process and to make the whole system more flexible. A new procurement procedure has also arisen called innovation partnership.

AbstractThe employer is obliged to initiate negotiations with the union organization to which the employer is bound by a collective agreement. This applies both to decisions which imply a substantial change in workplace operations or employment conditions of the individual employee. In case law this obligation has been very extensive through all cases that have been up in the Swedish Labor court. Due to this fact the employer?s duty to negotiate has been interpreted very broadly.

The employer is obligated to call for negotiation on his own initiative, before he makes decisions in questions, which constitute important changes of the employer?s business or of the worker?s working conditions and terms of employment. The obligation to negotiate is reserved to the organisations, which the employer has collective agreements with. But what does the concept of important changes mean? What areas are included in the concept of important changes, according to legal framework and case law? How extensive is in fact the employer?s obligation to negotiate? The purpose of this report has been to seek answers to the above-mentioned questions, through partly describing how the employer?s obligation to negotiate has developed, and partly describing how the codes of negotiations in the Employment (Co-Determination in the Workplace) Act of 1976 are raised and applied.

The general contract law principle of loyalty between negotiators, in deliberation, leads to a duty of disclosure for negotiators. The extent of this duty of disclosure is influenced by many different factors; amongst others the type of agreement, the negotiators knowledge and opportunity of procuring knowledge. The general duty of disclosure is both a part of the contract law principle of loyalty between negotiators in negotiating a contract, and an indirectly statutory obligation, that, if neglected will lead to nullification of the agreement. The legislator has stated that the general contract law, Lag (1915:218) om avtal och andra rättshandlingar på förmögenhetsrättens område (avtalslagen), should be used to regulate negotiating of contracts, including the negotiation of contracts of employment. In arbetsdomstolens judging, additional factors have been weighed in, and the judgement is done also through the use of a concept taken from employment law, the concept of ?saklig grund för uppsägning?.

The union organization rate has continuously diminished since the mid 90's. The aim of this essay is to investigate non-members approach to the union. Central questions are what personal experiences the respondents have of the union and how they view the union as a phenomenon. According to previous research the main cause of the great decline in membership to LO are the increased membership fees to the union and the unemployment insurance funds (UIF) in 2007. The increased fee led to a greater accumulated cost for those who were both union- and UIF -members, which had a negative effect on the membership numbers for the union.