Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

The aim of this document is to outline the historical development, roles and responsibilities of the European Defence Agency (EDA), decision-making procedures and discuss its activities that could support the Lithuanian defence industry. The findings show that the Agency continues to play an important role in coordinating participating member states (pMS) and their defence industries, enabling projects, suggesting prioritization tools, and fostering initiatives that seek greater strategic autonomy of the EU. The successful accomplishments of EDA initiatives depend on the ‘national appetite’ of pMS. The results of the research suggest a limited Lithuanian interest in the various EU programs, supervised by the EDA, that could boost the developments of the indigenous defence industry and research related to defence.

The discussion about the impact of financial development on economic growth is still relevant for economists. However, in recent years, after the financial crises of the first decade of the 21st century, there has arisen certain scepticism about the positive impact of the growing financial sector on economic growth rates. Moreover, specific cases of negative consequences of such a connection or its absence have become known. The 2008-2010 crises, certainly, played an important role in rethinking the nature of the impact of the financial sector on the real sector in the economy, which led to new arguments in favour of a relatively more cautious approach to stimulating the financial sector, given the potential negative effects on the country’s socio-economic security. The aim of the research is to determine the nature of the relationship between financial development and economic growth and its direction in Latvia in the period 1995–2017.

Strategic (Comprehensive) Partnership, as a general concept and also as a specific foreign policy instrument for developing the European Union’s relations with key world countries (strategic partners), involves not only equivalent, mutually beneficial and institutionalized cooperation in many areas but also a joint solution to strategic (security and defense) issues and issues of regional and global governance where parties not only cooperate but also share responsibility. The objective of this article is to analyze the legal instruments (criteria) of the EU-China Strategic Partnership and to compare its character with the general legal concept of the EU Strategic Partnership. Based on this analysis we will answer the question whether the EU-China Strategic Partnership shows evidence of unclarity, imperfection and elusiveness of the EU’s Strategic Partnership.