crucial to identify important factors in the EU legislative decision-making process that may impact its speed. This understanding can assist decision-makers in identifying the root causes of... Show morecrucial to identify important factors in the EU legislative decision-making process that may impact its speed. This understanding can assist decision-makers in identifying the root causes of legislative stagnation and devising strategies to mitigate them, thereby culminating in the creation of policies that hold democratic legitimacy to effectively tackle the dilemma faced by the EU. Stakeholder involvement in EU decision-making processes has become a critical aspect for the EU, particularly for the European Commission, to enhance democratic legitimacy and internal power. However, reconciling divergent stakeholder opinions poses a challenge for EU decision-makers. Based on four empirical studies, this dissertation examines why it is necessary to consider stakeholder opinions and member-states preferences, as well as how they interact to influence decision-making outcomes. By utilizing quantitative analyses and qualitative case studies, this dissertation underlines how negative stakeholder opinions influence the positions adopted by member states within the Council, thereby increasing the transaction costs of bargaining among member states by prolonging the legislative process and consequently leads to efficiency losses. The findings shed light on the difficult task of resolving the democratic deficit in EU legislative politics and the implications for balancing the democratic legitimacy and political efficiency of EU policymaking systems. Show less
The dissertation studies harmful tax competition in the East African Community (EAC). With a focus on Rwanda, it mainly refers to the EU and OECD standards. The objective of the study was to... Show moreThe dissertation studies harmful tax competition in the East African Community (EAC). With a focus on Rwanda, it mainly refers to the EU and OECD standards. The objective of the study was to investigate Rwanda’s tax competition practices, in order to determine whether Rwanda is within the parameters of internationally accepted practices. The main orientation was not to draw a new distinction between acceptable versus unacceptable tax practices. Rather, it was to apply the criteria already developed and accepted at the international level to the particular case of Rwanda. The main materials used are: the EAC Treaty, the draft EAC Code of Conduct against harmful tax competition, the 1997 EU Code of Conduct on business taxation, the 1998 OECD Report on harmful tax competition, the COCG assessment reports, the OECD Progress reports, the Rwandan income tax law of 2018 and the investment law of 2021. This dissertation shows the possibility of applying EU and OECD standards by non- OECD and EU countries, particularly developing countries, to create tax systems that are free of harmful tax competition. However, it also shows that OECD and EU standards are not sufficient to eradicate all harmful tax practices, both in developed and developing countries. Show less
How do crises produce changes in specific European Union foreign policy areas, and how should we conceptualise these policy changes?This book provides a novel analytical framework that serves to... Show moreHow do crises produce changes in specific European Union foreign policy areas, and how should we conceptualise these policy changes?This book provides a novel analytical framework that serves to investigate the way in which the EU changes its foreign policy after crisis. Ikani adapts the existing theorising of foreign policy change to a single framework applicable to the EU context, providing readers with a toolbox to both explain the process of change and measure the policy change that follows. The framework is developed through an investigation of two important EU foreign policy change episodes, taking place after the Arab uprisings and the Ukraine conflict, and test- driven in three recent cases of EU foreign policy change after crisis. Show less
Money, D.J., Frøland, H.O., Gwatiwa, T. Money, D.J., Frøland, H.O., Gwatiwa, T. 2020
Summary.This article examines the changing forms of African agency in the context of contestations over natural resource governance with the European Union. The authors argue that EU policy is... Show moreSummary.This article examines the changing forms of African agency in the context of contestations over natural resource governance with the European Union. The authors argue that EU policy is motivated by material self-interest but that it has not been able to successfully implement these policies. The way these policies have been challenged by African states has changed, however. The authors argue that a crucial context for this is the failure of the New International Economic Order in the 1970s. The failure of these initiatives helps to explain why the impetus for natural resource governance continues to come from outside the African continent.Résumé. Cet article examine l’évolution des formes du pouvoir d’action autonome de l’Afrique dans le contexte des contestations avec l’Union européenne quant à la gouvernance des ressources naturelles. Les auteurs soutiennent que la politique de l’UE est motivée par des intérêts matériels personnels mais qu’elle n’a pas réussi à mettre en oeuvre ces politiques avec succès. La façon dont ces politiques ont été contestées par les États africains a cependant changé. Les auteurs affirment que l’échec du Nouvel ordre économique international dans les années 1970 constitue un contexte crucial à cet égard. L’échec de ces initiatives contribue à expliquer pourquoi l’élan en faveur de la gouvernance des ressources naturelles continue de venir de l’extérieur du continent africain. Show less
