scholarly journals The (Small) State of the Union: Assessing the EU's Ability to Implement Its Global Strategy

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Revecca Pedi
Keyword(s):  
International System ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
External Action ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Small Power ◽  
State Of The Union ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Eu

The European Global Strategy (EUGS) is a significant document that came out at a critical time. Decision makers and scholars need to identify and assess the challenges the EU is facing in its effort to pursue its new Strategy. This paper addresses the lack of a tool for identifying those challenges and assessing the EU's ability to respond to them by introducing a new analytical framework based on the conceptualization of the EU as a small power in the international system, and the literature about the international relations of small states. The framework combines the factors that impact upon a small state's behaviour and performance in the international system and consists of the following elements: a) the EU's relations with the great powers in the system, b) developments in the EU's neighbourhood, c) the EU's politics, and d) the EU's reputation. After discussing each one of them, the paper contributes a comprehensive assessment of the EU's ability to implement its Strategy. It concludes that in order to implement its Strategy, the EU should respond to specific challenges. Therefore, the framework this paper introduces can improve our understanding of both the EUGS and the Union's strengths and weaknesses, shed some light on what measures should be taken for the Union to respond to challenges that lie ahead and be used as a yardstick to assess the Union's progress. Moreover, the framework can be applied to other areas of the EU's external action and contribute to both drafting better informed strategic documents and supporting their implementation.

scholarly journals The European Union and the Global Arena: In Search of Post-Brexit Roles

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-92
Author(s):  
Michael Smith
Keyword(s):  
Role Theory ◽  
External Action ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Global Arena ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

This article explores the issues faced by the EU in developing its international roles post-Brexit, using a combination of discursive analysis and role theory to investigate the development and performance of roles in a number of linked arenas. Central to this analysis is the assumption that whatever form Brexit takes, the EU and the UK will remain closely entangled, and thus that the post-Brexit role assumed by the UK will shape the evolution of EU external action. But a key task for analysis is to place the impact of Brexit into the array of wider forces affecting EU external action, and this is a key aim of the article. The article begins by exploring the discourses of globalism characteristic of UK and EU foreign policies, as focused by the debates about ‘global Britain’ and EU global strategy since 2015. It then introduces a simple framework for considering the roles conceived and performed by the EU, and their potential impact in the post-Brexit world. The article then considers three areas of EU external action, and the ways in which they might be shaped by a post-Brexit world: trade and development, transatlantic relations and security and defence policy. The conclusion discusses the implications of the cases, especially in relation to the conversion of discursive role constructs into performable roles—a problem central to EU external action—and concludes that whilst the impact of Brexit will be significant, it is likely to be less fundamental than the impact of the challenges faced by the EU in the global arena more broadly.

Fragility and resilience in the European Union's security strategy: comparing policy paradigms

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Edoardo Baldaro ◽  
Irene Costantini
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Management ◽  
International System ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
European Security ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Local Environments ◽  
Security Discourse ◽  
European Security Strategy ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The article takes fragility and resilience as distinct policy paradigms, and proposes a structured, focused comparison of how they informed and changed the EU approach to conflict and crisis management in time. The first section provides a cumulative synthesis of the debate on fragility and resilience in the international and European security discourse and practice on the background of which their comparison is built. By analysing the founding documents respectively endorsing fragility and resilience in the European context, namely the 2003 European Security Strategy and the 2016 European Union Global Strategy in addition to the existing literature on these topics, the two paradigms are examined in terms of (1) what understanding of the international system they advance; (2) where they identify the locus of the threat; (3) which role they attribute to the international community (4) and the type of solutions they proposed. In accordance with our results, we conclude that the two paradigms are not in competition, since they emerged from and reflected a contingent shift in global and local environments. Moreover, rather than providing a novel lens to better look at conflict and crisis situation, resilience is found to offer more insights into the EU's perception of its role in these contexts.

6. Theorizing the European Union after Integration Theory

2019 ◽  
pp. 83-101
Author(s):  
Ben Rosamond
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Science ◽  
International System ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
External Action ◽  
Integration Theory ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Comparative Political Science ◽  
Eu Studies ◽  
The Eu

This chapter deals with recent theoretical work on the European Union. Three broad analytical pathways that depart from the classical debate are discussed in this chapter: comparative political science; a revitalized international relations (IR); and ‘critical theories’. Two additional pathways—governance and normative political theory—are considered in other chapters (see Chapters 7 and 9). This chapter discusses in turn the contribution to EU studies of comparative political science in general and new institutionalist political science, and in particular the emergence of social constructivist approaches to the EU, IR’s contribution to the theorization of EU external action, together with approaches from the subfield of international political economy (IPE), and a variety of critical theoretical readings of the EU. The chapter also explores how IR theories might be brought back into EU studies. The purpose of the chapter is to show how the EU still raises significant questions about the nature of authority, statehood, and the organization of the international system. These questions are doubly significant in the present period of crisis, where the issue of ‘disintegration’ comes to the fore.

6. Theorizing the European Union after Integration Theory

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Rosamond
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Science ◽  
International System ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
External Action ◽  
Integration Theory ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Comparative Political Science ◽  
Eu Studies ◽  
The Eu

This chapter considers recent theoretical work on the European Union in the context of three analytical pathways that depart from the classical debate: comparative political science, a revitalized international relations (IR), and ‘critical theory’. It first outlines the limits of the classical debate before discussing the three pathways and two additional ones beyond integration theory: governance and normative political theory. It then examines the contribution to EU studies of comparative political science in general and new institutionalist political science in particular, the emergence of social constructivist approaches to the EU, and IR's contribution to the theorization of EU external action. It also reviews approaches from the subfield of international political economy and how IR theories might be brought back into EU studies. The chapter shows that the EU continues to raise significant questions about the nature of authority, statehood, and the organization of the international system.

scholarly journals Towards a comprehensive framework of mediation success: EU mediation in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-95
Author(s):  
Erik Plänitz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
External Action ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Mediation ◽  
High Level ◽  
Comprehensive Framework ◽  
The Eu

The European Union has gained increasing importance in international mediation over the last decade. Driven by the powerful role assigned to the High Representative and the European External Action Service by the Lisbon treaty, the EU has been facilitating high-level talks between Belgrade and Pristina over their relationship since 2011. Although the signing of the Brussels Agreement in 2013 was a breakthrough, developments in north Kosovo suggest that the process might have significant shortcomings. This paper's guiding research question of how to assess mediation success addresses the existing gap between external and internal perspectives. It introduces a comprehensive analytical framework to assess mediation success that combines several previously suggested ideas into a single framework. The question of how to measure successful mediation contributes not only to theory development but targets the interface between science and policymaking. The framework, as applied to the EU mediation efforts in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, has unveiled the in conclusive character of the process. Whilst being a success for the European Union, this paper argues a deficit in local legitimacy exists. Increasing levels of internal violence in Kosovo hint that it failed to fully address the root causes of the dispute.

Die EU-Zentralasienstrategie 2019 – mehr Handlungsrahmen als strategisches Dokument

IG ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Böttger ◽  
Yvonne Braun ◽  
Julian Plottka
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Strategic Renewal ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
Financial Framework ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Internal Division

In May 2019, the Council of the European Union (EU) adopted a new Central Asia Strategy. Drivers behind the strategic renewal were transformations in Central Asia, the new geopolitical context, lessons from the implementation of the previous strategy, and the new EU Global Strategy of 2016. With regard to these developments, a number of expectations towards the new strategy derived. Based on an outline of recent developments, the article identifies current challenges and expectations and assesses whether the new strategy lives up to them. It concludes that the 2019 strategy is rather a framework for action than a strategic document. However, its major assets are “flexibility” with regard to future trends and “inclusiveness” in terms of stakeholders’ ownership for the EU’s Central Asia policy. To sustain this ownership, the Central Asia policy needs sufficient funding under the next multiannual financial framework. During programming, the EU has to define clear priorities for bilateral and regional measures. To generate synergies, the EU institutions and member states have to agree on an internal division of labor. Finally, the EU has to put “principled pragmatism” into practice by finding a balance between the promotion of values and interests.

scholarly journals Globalna strategia Unii Europejskiej: refleksja konstruktywistyczna

Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (55) ◽  
pp. 129-151
Author(s):  
Filip Tereszkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
External Action ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Constructivist Approach ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Foreign And Security Policy ◽  
Under Construction ◽  
The Eu

European Union Global Strategy: a Constructivist ReflectionThis paper examines the potential of a constructivist approach in analysing the European Union’s security strategy area. It focuses on the new EU Global Strategy (EUGS), which was adopted by the Council at the end of June 2016. First, the methodology is explained, followed by discussing the consequence of using the document’s language for EU identity. The paper then focuses on the new title of the strategy that shows a new approach to security strategies within the European External Action Service’s staff. The consequences of building a narrative about the “threatened” but also “needed” and “influential” European Union are underlined here. Furthermore, the new role of the EU in the international scene is described, focusing on the shift from the EU as a civilian power to the EU as a normal power, with an emphasis on the importance of the preservation of the EU as a normative power. The conclusions from using a constructivist approach to examine the EUGS are then presented, which show that mechanisms of the logics of appropriateness, consequence, and persuasion are observed within the document. Moreover, the language of the EUGS could have an influence on EU identity and role on the global stage. The constructivist approach proves that the EU external actions are continuously under construction, and the EUGS is the next step in achieving a more coherent and effective European foreign and security policy.

The European Union and Diplomatic Law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Butler
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
External Action ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Second World War ◽  
First Century ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Supranational Institutions ◽  
Second World ◽  
The Eu

Not long after the establishment of supranational institutions in the aftermath of the Second World War, the early incarnations of the European Union (EU) began conducting diplomacy. Today, EU Delegations (EUDs) exist throughout the world, operating similar to full-scale diplomatic missions. The Treaty of Lisbon established the legal underpinnings for the European External Action Service (EEAS) as the diplomatic arm of the EU. Yet within the international legal framework, EUDs remain second-class to the missions of nation States. The EU thus has to use alternative legal means to form diplomatic missions. This chapter explores the legal framework of EU diplomatic relations, but also asks whether traditional missions to which the VCDR regime applies, can still be said to serve the needs of diplomacy in the twenty-first century, when States are no longer the ultimate holders of sovereignty, or the only actors in international relations.

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