Studia Polityczne

Geneza traktatu z Maastricht i jego znaczenie dla integracji i bezpieczeństwa Europy

Józef M. Fiszer — 2023-10-26

The Maastricht Treaty was signed thirty years ago, on 7 February 1992 and, after ratification, it came into force on 1 November 1993. It was a milestone on the path to European integration, which began after World War II, and an important element of the transatlantic international security system. On its basis, the European Union (EU) was created.
Its genesis and decisions were influenced by such events and processes as: the Autumn of Nations 1989, which led to the fall of communism in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the unification of Germany on 3 October 1990, the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 and the end of the Cold War.
This article aims to analyse the origins of the Maastricht Treaty and show its importance in the integration and security of Europe after the collapse of the Yalta–Potsdam order and the end of the Cold War. The main thesis is that without the fall of communism in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the collapse of the USSR, the unification of Germany and the end of the Cold War, the Maastricht Treaty would not have been signed and the EU would not have been created. Moreover, without the Maastricht Treaty and the EU, the international situation after the end of the Cold War would have been less stable as the competition between a united Germany and France for leadership in Europe would have intensified. Russia could have used this to strengthen its position in the post-communist world.

Traktat o Unii Europejskiej z Maastricht i jego konsekwencje dla systemu integracyjnego. Ujęcie konstruktywistyczne

Zbigniew Czachór — 2023-10-26

The scientific analysis contained in this article is based on the constructivist approach and evaluation of the Maastricht Treaty on the European Union (EU). This is especially true of the behaviours and integration practices that refer to commonly shared (or not) identities, symbols, norms, interests and knowledge, as well as the language used in the EU, produced and reproduced over thirty years. The Union in the Maastricht Treaty is still an unfinished act. For this reason, the treaty is analysed here from the point of view of goals that have been achieved and those that have not. The constructivist way of approaching the EU after the treaty leads to an understanding of its identity as a subjective, non-material ontological subject, which is bound by informal institutions such as symbols, ideas, norms and social values.

Późnowestfalskie innowacje w polityce zewnętrznej Unii Europejskiej

Marek Rewizorski — 2023-10-26

The purpose of this article is to take a closer look at the European Union’s (EU) external policy and its diplomatic apparatus, i.e. the European External Action Service (EEAS). as a post-Westphalian political innovation specific only to the EU. The article assumes that the EU’s post-Westphalian external policy is based on multilateralism, hybridism and normative plasticity. All the features of the EU’s external policy became apparent in the EEAS, which, originally constructed as a ‘service’, gradually turned into an ‘interstitial organisation’. Trying to find its place between standardisation and adaptation to the structures and practices typical of classical Westphalian diplomacy, and the emergence of transformative structures and new diplomatic practice, it has become a source of innovation related to the changing dynamics in diplomacy.

Relacje niemiecko-francuskie w 30 lat po zawarciu traktatu z Maastricht, stan obecny i perspektywy

Mateusz Czasak — 2023-10-26

This article outlines the picture of German–French relations in 2022. It focuses on the political dimension, which is related to economic relations. Brexit and the full-scale war in Ukraine since 2022 are also elements of the analysis. A thesis is put forward that despite all difficulties and discrepancies, German–French cooperation functions and has the potential for further tightening, despite the differences in goals and policies of both countries. In recent years, it has been possible to further conserve and deepen it. The strong political ties of both countries are not manifested only in the declarative sphere. This state of mutual relations makes it possible to carefully forecast further constructive cooperation between the two countries.

Stanowisko Komisji Europejskiej oraz rządów państw członkowskich Unii Europejskiej wobec reformy ustrojowej Unii Gospodarczej i Walutowej (2017-2022)

Janusz J. Węc — 2023-10-26

This article aims to analyse the positions of the European Commission (EC) and the governments of the EU Member States regarding the system reform of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). This analysis leads the author to the following conclusions. First, the EC has consistently advocated the creation of three new structures within the existing EMU by the end of 2025 (i.e. the Financial Union, the Fiscal Union and the Economic Union) and a radical extension of the powers of the EU institutions in the financial, fiscal and economic policies of the Member States. On the other hand, some EU Member State governments, notably Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, were opposed not only to such far-reaching system reform, but also to the pace of its implementation. All the draft laws of the EC went much further than the proposals of the Eurozone Summit or the Eurogroup in terms of system change. Thirdly, the attitude of the Eurozone Member States themselves towards the reform examined was not uniform. While the southern eurozone countries, led by France and Italy, believed that financial solidarity within the eurozone should be understood in the broadest sense, the northern eurozone countries, led by Germany, opposed it. As a result, the differences of opinion between the EU Member States were compounded by controversies between the Eurozone countries, which further complicated the process of reforming the EMU system. Fourthly, the reorientation of the stance of the governments of Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden towards a communitisation of debt in 2020 and 2021, illustrated by the example of the Reconstruction Fund, did not pave the way for resolving the long-standing dispute over the establishment of a European deposit guarantee scheme.

Francuska prezydencja w Radzie Unii Europejskiej – bilans w świetle Wspólnej Polityki Bezpieczeństwa i Obrony UE

Kinga Torbicka — 2023-10-26

This analysis aims to evaluate the implementation of the priorities of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the challenges it faced, with particular emphasis on the objectives of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy. The article describes the French Presidency in a broader European geopolitical context, which affected the final shape of the presidency’s goals and their implementation.

Francuska polityka zagraniczna wobec Rosji, Ukrainy i wojny Federacji Rosyjskiej przeciwko Ukrainie w kampanii prezydenckiej we Francji w 2022 roku

Agnieszka Stec — 2023-10-26

This article aims to compare the political positions of the five main candidates in the presidential election in France (Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le Pen, Jean Luc Mélenchon, Éric Zemmour, Valérie Pécresse), representing the political parties running in the election to the National Assembly, on the foreign policy of the French Republic in the context of the war in Ukraine caused by Russia on 24 February 2022. The article focuses on four thematic segments showing their attitude to: Russia before the war in Ukraine and the economic sanctions introduced in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea; Russia after the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the resulting economic sanctions; military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine; and the concept of ending the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. It also attempts to understand the special position of Russia in the foreign policy of France since the beginning of the Fifth Republic, which has influenced perceptions of the war in Ukraine and proposals for resolving the conflict.

Polityczne skutki wojny na Ukrainie dla Unii Europejskiej

Tomasz G. Grosse — 2023-10-26

This article assesses the geopolitical consequences of Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022 on the European Union (EU). It seems to have highlighted the differences in the perception of the strategic situation between the eastern and western parts of the Union. These differences relate to the preferred relations with the United States, the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, but also include the issue of systemic changes in the EU and how European integration is managed. This is also related to the different perception of the role of EU values as a mechanism potentially counteracting disintegration tendencies. The author’s question is how the war in Ukraine affects these two different perceptions of geopolitics and internal reforms in the EU. The main thesis of the study is that war highlights the differences between actors and has essentially not changed previous perceptions of geopolitical challenges.

Wzrastające znaczenie polityki klimatycznej w Unii Europejskiej po wejściu w życie traktatu z Maastricht: główne przyczyny, skutki i wyzwamia

Kamil Jaworski — 2023-10-26

Climate policy is a new area of European integration, although there were no exact references to the issue of climate change in the Maastricht Treaty. However, this article draws attention to the interesting coincidence of the creation of the European Union (EU) in the 1990s and the consequences of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro which started the process of greening the EU Member States’ foreign policies and enhanced the importance of environmental and climate protection issues on the international agenda. The Member States and EU institutions, acting within the institutional framework defined by the Maastricht Treaty, in the face of the limitations resulting from unanimous voting in taxation policy, started to develop climate policy (in particular, the EU Emissions Trading System), mainly based on environmental law, enabling decisions to be taken by a qualified majority. The growing importance of climate policy in the EU was influenced by many factors and the different motivations of individual Member States and other European policy actors. After depicting the main causes and effects of the growing importance of EU climate policy, the article discusses the most important challenges facing the EU with regard to the implementation of an ambitious climate policy. In recent years, one of the main reasons for this increase is the fact that each of the successive overlapping crises (concerning migration, pandemic, Russia–Ukraine war or spiking energy prices) is a suitable opportunity to strengthen EU climate policy.

Sytuacja i perspektywy Unii Europejskiej w trzydzieści lat po traktacie z Maastricht

Mateusz Czasak — 2023-10-26

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Kamil Pietrasik — 2023-10-26

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Józef M. Fiszer — 2023-10-26

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Mateusz Czasak — 2023-10-26

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Wojciech Roszkowski — 2023-10-26