EU Maritime Foreign Policies Between Norms and Economic Interests: Piracy and Maritime Labour Standards

Abstract

This chapter contributes to a better understanding of what characterizes EU maritime foreign and security policies by exploring two cases where strong economic interests are at stake: The launch of the EU’s first maritime military operation fighting piracy off Somalia, EUNAVFOR Atalanta, and the EU’s policies towards the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC). Given the member states’ strong economic interests in shipping, one would expect the EU’s policies in both of these cases to be oriented towards economic gain. So why, then, does the EU claim that its policies are based on normative concerns? Do EU Atalanta and EU MLC policies suggest that the EU conducts a humanitarian maritime foreign policy? In order to test the relevance of this hypothesis, this chapter proceeds in two steps, in line with the two key defining criteria of a humanitarian foreign policy. First, I control for whether the EU’s claims to promote norms were used rhetorically or strategically to pursue economic interests, as one would expect following a traditional foreign policy model. Second, I go on to study whether or not the EU has been willing to bind itself to global norms in the conduct of its policies, even if such a policy involves costs to the EU itself. I find that although concerned with securing free shipping lanes and increasing the Union’s global competitiveness, the EU’s policies in these cases testify to a humanitarian foreign policy model.