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Browsing by Subject "North Atlantic Treaty Organization"

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  • Comparing the European Union’s and North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Privacy and Data Protection Policies : Finland Compared to Germany 
    Gockel, Janette (2023)
    This thesis sought to remedy the lack of information about the main differences and similarities between the European Union’s (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) privacy and data protection policies. To do so, it outlined both organizations’ publicly available privacy and data protection policies, as well as defined the big picture of the global legal instruments related to the topic. To understand what the impact of these policies to the members of both was, a comparison was made between Finland and Germany. The chosen methodology was comparative law. The key results indicated that main emphasis of the EU is on human rights protection. This is proven by the GDPR, which recognizes privacy as a fundamental human right. The need to safeguard the privacy of users is prioritized throughout the EU’s jurisdiction by aiming to protect data. There is a strong contrast compared to NATO, which puts the strategic interests of their allies first. NATO aims to ensure that it can leverage data as a strategic resource. Members of both must find balance between these different interests, while being part of the international community. In principle, where the EU and international agreements handle civilian matters in privacy and data protection, there NATO covers military matters. However, the rising geopolitical tensions has led to a situation where the role of the EU might be changing. The political decisions the EU is now taking will shape the future of the EU-NATO cooperation as well as privacy and data protection policies, to be possibly used in a more strategic way.
  • Peaceful Coexistence or Rivals in Disguise? – Finding Harmony between Legal Mandates of the EU and NATO 
    Kaarakainen, Henri (2023)
    Today’s geopolitical situation seems to give the EU and NATO many reasons to combine their forces. Following Russia’s unlawful attack against Ukraine in February 2022, both clubs of sovereign states have found themselves dealing with the same question; how to ensure security of the European continent against external aggressions? While defence is traditionally strongly linked with the core functions of NATO, it is evident that the EU has shown a keen interest in operating in this field as well. While this development is understandable and necessary, it sparks a need to have a thorough relook at the work distribution of these two organizations. Therefore, this thesis concentrates on the following research question: Understanding that a significant majority of Member States of the European Union are also members of NATO, to what extent do these two organizations’ legal mandate to act within the field of security and defence overlap with each other? What could be possible ways to further promote the clarity between the EU’s and NATO’s legal competences in the field? This research is first and foremost rooted in international institutional law, meaning that all aspects of this research are meant to serve the understanding of the regulatory framework in an inter-institutional relationship. While political dimensions are always closely intertwined with this aspect and are thus extensively discussed within the thesis, their main purpose still remains to serve as a tool to grasp the essence of the legal-regulatory side of the relationship. Consequently, this research follows a multi-method approach. The benefit of utilising a combination of methodologies is that it allows me to examine my research question from several perspectives; as my research question is multifaceted and includes both legal, political, and historical dimensions, I believe that this is the best way to gain the most complete picture of the research subject.

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