EVER CLOSER FOREST POLICY? A qualitative document study on European Integration

Abstract

This thesis work examines integration in the EU on forest policy, aiming to understand what drives the integration process on the area. The study is centred on analysing the differences between the first and second forestry strategy and on how Council of the European Union and the European Parliament relate to these. Previous research disagreed on how the policy area might develop, split between projections of increased supranationalism or rather coordination. The study contrasts the two integration theories Neofunctionalism and New Intergovernmentalism to analyse the material. The method employed is a qualitative document analysis. The results of this work find no discernible signs of increasing supranationalism, on the contrary all actors clearly state that forests and forestry is a national competence and should remain so. The results also found that the roles of the legislative solutions shifted dramatically between the first and second strategy. The Parliament was instrumental in pushing the Commission to adopt the first strategy. Meanwhile they were left out of the process of drafting the second strategy, only able to comment after it was already in implementation. The Council seems to have solidified control of the policy area, able to wield strong influence in the shaping of the second strategy.