The European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region - The reluctant leadership of the European Commission

Sammanfattning: The European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region was launched in 2009 after an extensive and inclusive consultation process lead by the European Commission; however, during the implementation phase un-clarities in its leadership responsibilities have emerged. The thesis adopts a case study design with the aim of examining the EUSBSR leadership structure, more precisely the European Commission’s leadership role and how they handle and consider this role. Theoretical conceptualization is achieved by linking theories of leadership with the ‘path dependency’ theory in a framework for identifying the complex structures and leadership “issues” within which the European Commission upholds its leadership role. The main findings include that the European Commission as an institutional entrepreneur in the development of the EUSBSR and that, in the implementation phase of the EUSBSR their leadership role has been developed path dependently. The thesis concludes that more research on leadership of macro-regional strategies is required and emphasizes the benefits of linking leadership and ‘path dependency’ concepts.