European Union Foreign Policy Research Articles

No place to hide: The public attribution of responsibility for policy failures of international organisations

Abstract Who is held responsible when international organisations (IOs) fall short of public expectations? Scholarship on IO blame avoidance assumes that member states can hide behind IOs. As clarity of responsibility is assumed to be lacking in IOs, public responsibility attributions (PRA) will usually target the IO rather than individual member states. We argue, by contrast, that even in complex IOs such as the European Union (EU), clarity of responsibility is not always lacking. Therefore, whether the IO in general or individual member states become the main target of public blame attributions depends on the type of IO policy failure. In cases of failures to act and failures to comply, the responsibility of individual member states is comparatively easy to identify, and they thus become the main blame target. Only in cases of failures to perform clarity of responsibility is lacking, and the IO will become the main target of public blame attributions. To assess the plausibility of this‘failure hypothesis’, we study public blame attributions in two cases of EU foreign policy failures and two cases of EU environmental policy failures.

From optimist to sceptical liberalism: reforging European Union foreign policy amid crises

Abstract Russia's invasion of Ukraine brought both condemnation and vindication to the European Union. EU policies were condemned for being complacent, naive and greedy. However, when European leaders conducted a coordinated response backing Ukraine, the war also vindicated the EU as a liberal project. The crisis has led to a surge in support for the EU, unprecedented cooperation across policy areas and new accession negotiations with the EU's eastern neighbours. To understand this shift, the article argues that crisis has catalysed the EU becoming a sceptical liberal actor. Sceptical liberalism is characterized by a bleak view on the trajectory of the international order, a self-critical understanding of Europe's role in it, and a willingness to intervene, including with military means, to tackle political predicaments. The transition changes EU leaders' previous optimistic liberal approach of pursuing peace and prosperity though mediation and interdependence. Distinguishing between ideals and actions, the article argues that liberal ideals remain intact, but a sceptical outlook implies different actions to pursue those ideals. The article's argument challenges longstanding scholarly debates on ‘normal versus normative power Europe’, which build on an excessively bifurcated assessment of EU foreign policy that fails to capture contemporary dynamics and the dilemmas they cause.

The EU’s evolving leadership role in an age of geopolitics: Beyond normative and market power in the Indo-Pacific

Abstract In the last two decades, the European Union (EU) has forged an international role as a ‘force for good’ and a champion for democracy, human rights, multilateralism, free trade, climate change action, and sustainable development. However, as the international context has grown more competitive and turbulent, it has become more challenging for the EU to uphold this global role. Subsequently, the EU has pursued more proactive policies to confront urgent challenges to the rules-based international system and global governance norms. This paper explores what the EU’s evolving geopolitical foreign policy role actually entails and how it is compatible with the Union’s understanding of itself as a global leader as expressed as a Normative Power, Market Power, and Security Power. Utilising the Indo-Pacific Strategy of 2021 and subsequent communications as illustrative examples, it examines how the EU is upscaling its plans and partnerships into a broader, sustainable connectivity strategy that fits into the context of a reoriented EU foreign policy and its leadership goals. In conclusion, it finds that the credibility of the three powers that the EU proclaims to play will be dependent on the coherence of the role set and the extent to which the EU can achieve these roles.

Is Europe raising its voice? EU representation at the UN prior to and post-Lisbon

The ‘High Representative’ speaks on behalf of the European Union in international organizations since 2010. The motivation for this reform has been to strengthen the European Union's foreign policy representation. It can be expected that this empowerment of the High Representative has affected the content of official European Union speeches held at the United Nations. Did the reform lead to a more coherent and cohesive representation of European Union foreign policy at the United Nations? To answer this question, I analyze the content of all speeches held on behalf of the European Union in the United Nations General Assembly between 1993 and 2021. I find that European Union foreign policy priorities are more coherently and cohesively represented since the Lisbon reforms took effect. I argue that the empowerment of the ‘High Representatives’ and their diplomats caused this effect. Today, European Union representatives are less likely to follow global trends but set their own thematic priorities by focusing on the areas of disarmament, sustainable development, and international law.

Re-imagining EU Foreign and Security Policy in a Complex and Contested World

ABSTRACT The European Union (EU) increasingly formulates and implements foreign and security policy under the constraints of internal contestation, regional fragmentation and multipolar competition. While such contextual challenges can inhibit the EU from adopting an ambitious foreign and security policy, this Special Issue shows that the EU and its member states have developed ways of mitigating their impact. Through institutional, functional and diplomatic measures, the EU has managed to reduce the adverse effect of the contextual factors on its foreign and security policy towards conflicts and crises.

EUROPEAN GREEN DEAL: INSTITUSIONALISM UNI EROPA DALAM MENGHADAPI ISU PERUBAHAN IKLIM

his research analyzes the efforts of the European Union (EU) in overcoming climate change through the European Green Deal (EGD). Neoliberalism perspectives, Neoliberal institutionalism theory, and sustainable development are used to further analyze energy transitions and sustainability in EGD. The importance of EGD to the EU climate policy sustainability shows the expansion of sector coverage and progress in achieving the goal, being climate neutral by 2050. Through EGD, the EU is carrying out an energy transition with a wider sector coverage, such as buildings, industry, food, and agriculture. In order to achieve common goals, it is necessary to implement EGD as the European Union's foreign policy. EU efforts through EGD policies and strategies are renewable energy, REPowerEU, Farm to Fork strategy, deforestation strategy, New European Bauhaus, and the European Sustainable Investment Plan to support the sustainability of EGD on financial allocation with a just transition mechanism

Comparative Analysis of European Union Foreign Policy and African Union Foreign Policy: A Study of Objectives, Strategies and Challenges

This study focuses on the comparative analysis of EU foreign policy and AU foreign policy. The main objectives of the study encompass: to identify the objectives of EU foreign policy and AU foreign policy, to identify the similarities and differences between the objectives of EU and AU foreign policy, to analyse the factors that shape the objectives of EU and AU foreign policy, to evaluate the effectiveness of EU and AU foreign policy in achieving their respective objectives and to analyse the challenges facing EU and AU in implementing their foreign policy. The study utilized a qualitative research methodology, utilizing secondary sources such as official documents, policy statements, academic literature, and case studies through the use of documentary review tool. The key findings of the study on the objectives of EU foreign policy and AU foreign policy which they entail: The TEU states that the EU aims to promote its values, democracy, and the rule of law, human rights, and international law in its relations with other countries (Article 21.1 TEU) and the objectives of AU foreign policy as outlined in the Constitutive Act of the African Union include: promotion of peace, security, and stability as central objectives of the AU (Article 3.h); the similarities and differences between EU and AU, the Similarities entail: promotion of peace and security and promotion of democracy and human rights; and the differences include: regional integration versus global governance, economic development and poverty eradication and neighborhood versus continental and global; the factors that shape the objectives of the European Union include: treaty framework, member state interests, external challenges and global issues; and the factors that shape the objectives of and African Union foreign policy entail: African unity and solidarity, historical context and colonial legacy and peace and security challenges; the effectiveness of European Union (EU) and African Union (AU) foreign policy in achieving their respective objectives include: Institutional Framework, emphasis on diplomacy, multilateralism and international cooperation and peace and security; lastly, the finding on the challenges face by EU and AU in implementing their foreign policies include: EU, consensus-building among member states, coherence and coordination, external perceptions and influence, global power shifts and geopolitical dynamics, AU, include: limited resources and funding, peace and security challenge and Limited enforcement mechanisms.

Multipolar Competition and the Rules-based Order: Probing the Limits of EU Foreign and Security Policy in the South China Sea

ABSTRACT Deepening multipolar competition has imposed constraints on European Union foreign and security policy (EUFSP). In the South China Sea (SCS), the European Union (EU) faces a complex foreign policy terrain for three reasons. First, the EU’s geographic distance from – and relatively limited capabilities in – the region may lend itself to a de minimis mitigating strategy, especially when considered against the backdrop of the broader imperative to mitigate the impact of multipolar competition on its foreign policy more generally. Second, multipolarity can be compatible with the preservation of a rules-based international order (RBIO) if the latter term is interpreted less stringently. And third, rather than being a factor purely to mitigate, multipolar competition in the wider Indo-Pacific theatre offers the EU certain opportunities – albeit not without risks – to strengthen the character of its foreign and security policy by actively participating in a competitive dynamic. Together, these facts should encourage us to rethink whether ‘mitigation’ always captures the entire essence of the EU’s response to multipolar competition.

European Union Foreign Policy

This article examines the voting patterns of Nordic countries and the Netherlands in the UNGA, highlighting their longstanding alignment. Notably, Norway and Iceland are not part of theEuropean Union, which has been enhancing its foreign policy coherence since 1993. The central focus is to investigate if this integration has led to a divergence between EU member states and non-members. By calculating the voting cohesion rate among these countries in the UNGA from 1993 to 2021, the article found no significant variation in the cohesion rate, suggesting that European integration has not ended their historic alignment.

Rescuing the liberal international order: crisis, resilience and EU security policy

Abstract This article reflects on how European Union (EU) narratives of the crisis of the liberal international order (LIO) have reshaped its resilience approach and its foreign and security policy more broadly. Drawing on qualitative textual analysis, we trace the evolution of the EU's resilience approach over time and the way it has been shaped by crisis narratives. While the idea of resilience was introduced in EU foreign policy to foster the resilience of crisis-affected societies from the bottom up, the perception of an increasingly contested world first led to a reinterpretation of resilience in pragmatic ways, with values and interests combined selectively to protect the rules-based international order. More recently, on the grounds of a worsening crisis of the LIO, resilience has taken a defensive turn, adopting a more geopolitical stance to strengthen the EU's own resilience and that of the LIO. We argue that EU crisis narratives about the LIO thus serve to sustain and to rescue it. Furthermore, we conclude that the defensive reinterpretation of resilience is eroding the normative character of EU foreign and security policy. It also challenges the persistence of the LIO in the long term.

Evolution Of The Eastern Partnership Project: Strategic Use Of “Soft Power” Of The European Union Against Russia

This article focuses on the stages of development of the Eastern Partnership project, the European Union (EU) foreign policy strategy towards it and the role of Russia as a political competitor of the EU in the region. With the help of analyzing key documents that define the goals and objectives of the Eastern Partnership from the moment of its creation up to today, the features of the project initiative’s way of development and the degree of the EU’s involvement into political and economic processes of the Partnership states are pointed out. The research allows to clarify and evaluate the political background for the changes in the EU strategy towards the Partnership states and the principal incentives for the widening of cooperation within its framework. The main conclusion of the research is that the Eastern Partnership has grown in importance for the EU over time, especially since 2014, when the EU started to view Eastern Europe as one of the principal areas of influence and Russia as a direct competitor. The project has begun to include more and more spheres of political and economic cooperation, placing an emphasis on energy security, economic aid, and the development of civil society via European “soft power”.

Diplomats as Skilful Bricoleurs of the Digital Age: EU Foreign Policy Communications from the COREU to WhatsApp

Summary The article analyses how and to what effect diplomats navigate a landscape in which the physical and the digital have become inextricably intertwined, with emphasis on written communications in the European Union (EU) foreign policy system from the 1970s to the present. Putting International Relations literature into dialogue with Management Studies (particularly media richness theory and sense-making), it looks at how diplomats work their way through different forms of digital written communications. It addresses the effects of diplomacy’s digitalisation in terms of time, space and confidentiality. Digital tools have hastened diplomacy’s tempo and affected security considerations, while they have had mixed effects in terms of centre–periphery relations in diplomatic conversations, particularly for gender and wealth. The EU foreign policy system exemplifies these dynamics, from the spectacular rise of the COREU system to its decline in favour of faster, easier-to-use technologies such as e-mail and texting.

THE EU-UKRAINE PARTNERSHIP IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY: A CRITICAL REVIEW

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the partnership between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine in the context of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The analysis is based on a thorough review of relevant literature, official documents, and expert opinions, and aims to identify the main challenges and achievements of the partnership and offer recommendations for its further development. The author emphasizes the successes and challenges of the EU-Ukraine partnership in areas such as political cooperation, economic integration, and security cooperation. While the EU's support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity has been a key factor in the partnership's success, the article also highlights several limitations and shortcomings of the partnership. These include the slow pace of reforms in Ukraine, the impact of corruption on the country's development, and the EU's limited leverage over Russia's actions. To address these challenges, the article offers recommendations for how the EU-Ukraine partnership can be strengthened, including deeper engagement on issues such as energy security, human rights, and rule of law as well as a more proactive approach to supporting Ukraine's democratic development and reform agenda. The analysis suggests that these steps are crucial for ensuring the partnership's continued relevance and effectiveness, and for supporting Ukraine's path towards European integration and democratic consolidation. Overall, this article provides a critical and nuanced assessment of the EU-Ukraine partnership in the context of the CFSP, offering important insights for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners in the fields of EU foreign policy, Ukrainian politics, and international relations.

The Application of Regulation 452/2019 in Response to Chinese Foreign Direct Investment

The Regulation establishing a framework for screening of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into the European Union (EU) represents a new chapter for the EU’s foreign policy. FDI is a divisive topic within the EU, particularly FDI originating from China. This article seeks to add to the existing literature by assessing the effectiveness of the Screening Regulation towards this Chinese FDI. This assessment shall elucidate the interplay of this Regulation with the internal market, the free movement of capital, freedom of establishment, and the duty of sincere cooperation in response to Chinese FDI. Whilst the Regulation has proven its effectiveness, several deficiencies still exist, brought to light by recent developments such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). By framing this article against the backdrop of the golden shares case law, these deficiencies are highlighted and addressed. Allowing EU Member States (MS) to safeguard their public order and security considerations in screening through national measures would allow for a better control over their markets in conjunction with the Regulation, although further development is needed. Foreign direct investment, Chinese State-Owned Enterprises, Chinese economic statecraft, European External Trade Policy, EU trade policy, EU foreign policy, Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT), Freedom of establishment, Free movement of capital, Golden shares

The EU’S Trade Polıcy and It’s Reflectıons to The Türkiye

The European Union (EU) has an power through trade and this situation increasing gradually. EU uses market access as a bargaining chip to obtain changes in the domestic arena of its trading partners, from labor standards to development policies. Indeed, one of the central objectives of EU trade policy has been to “harness globalization” and spread, through the negotiation of trade agreements, the European model of society to the rest of the world. The EU has been a staunch promoter of regionalism and multilateralism. Regional integration and interregionalism are consistently mentioned as instruments and objectives in EU policy documents and they constitute a standard practice in EU foreign policy.
 
 This paper aims to show how the EU use trade policy as a foreign policy tool. Main characters of EU’s foreign trade policy, and some documents that giving EU’s policy directions and priorities have been evaluated. EU’s trade policy dimensions has been searched.
 At the accession process with the EU, Turkey’s adoption and harmonisation to this policy area is very important and contain some difficulties. In the light of this research and evaluation, it has been seen that the EU strongly and intensly uses trade policy as a foreign policy tool. EU’s trade policy is not only trade policy. Turkey and similar countries at the accession process have been forced this multifaced policy and they have been faced difficulties. For this end, they need following and organise their policies.

EVOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION’S ENGAGEMENT WITH CENTRAL ASIA

The European Union (EU) is one of the most important partners for Central Asia, which includes five post-soviet Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. For a long time, the EU has actively attempted to promote its standards and values across the area. This article investigates the evolution of the EU engagement with Central Asia, giving a document analysis of 2007 and 2019 EU Strategies for Central Asia. The purpose of the article is to compare the main objectives of the 2007 and 2019 Strategies, tracing an evolution of the EU priorities in the texts of two documents, using a quantitative content analysis, conducted manually. Theoretical framework of the article includes the external government concept in EU foreign policy, giving a literature review on the EU’s Strategies for Central Asia, and highlighting the background on the EU-Central Asia relations. In result, according to the empirical method of the content analysis of two strategies, the article concludes the EU’s priorities in Central Asia have been evolved revising European relationship with Central Asia from the focus on energy towards regional cooperation within Central Asia and security issues.

The conflict in Ukraine – a turning point for security and defence of the EU?

On 24 February 2022, war returned to the European continent. However, the Russian aggression did has not only affected Ukraine and its people, its negative consequences are being felt by the whole world, including the European Union, its Memeber States and their citizens. Under the influence of the ongoing conflict, the continental security environment and the security situation in the immediate vicinity of the borders of the European Union continue to deteriorate and interstate tensions between states are further deteriorating. At the same time, there is a threat to European values, democracy, freedom, security and prosperity. The aim of the authors' article is to point out the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the current Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union (EU).The article uses the scientific method of critical analysis of the CFSP of the EU and its basic strategic documents in the context of its application in the member countries. The results of the analyses are synthesized in the form of recommendations, mainly concering the timely response of the EU institution to the needs presented by individual member countries in the area of security and defence; investments spent on defence; compatibility of military means and systems; greater cohesion in the field of research and development of the EU member countries.In the conclusion, the author presents the opinion that the shock of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has certainly brought several significant changes, but only a broader transformation of the EU's foreign and security policy can support truly positive developments in this area. Therefore, the question remains unanswered whether the conflict in Ukraine will prove to be a turning point or whether it will remain only an impetus for the accelerating programmes and the developing new formats and initiatives without creating any breakthrough plan for deeper European security and defence integration.

The European Parliament's Political Leadership: The Case Study of EU Foreign Policy towards Turkey

AbstractThis article presents an empirical analysis of how the European Parliament's eighth legislature mobilised to shape European Union (EU) foreign policy towards Turkey during the refugee crisis. On a conceptual and methodological level, we propose an analytical framework based on the mechanism of political leadership to trace the EP's role in two specific areas of EU foreign policy towards Turkey: enlargement and cooperation on migration. We argue that EP foreign policy resources allow it to play a political leadership role in this policy domain. Empirically, the analysis feeds into the claim of New Institutional Leadership since it reveals that the informal governance at the time of the refugee crisis favoured the mobilisation of the EP, mainly to protect its institutional prerogatives. The analysis also shows that the EP adopted a contradictory approach to EU foreign policy towards Turkey that affected the Parliament's reputation as the guardian of EU values.

EUROPEAN UNION GLOBAL STRATEGY AND TURKEY: AN ANALYSIS OF THE TERM 2016-2021

The European Union (EU) has set a goal to be a global power in 2003 with the announcement of European Security Strategy. Nevertheless, this goal was stressed more decisively and obviously within the 2016 EU Global Strategy. The comparison between these strategies illustrates the change in rhetoric and foreign policy of the EU. With the 2016 Strategy, the EU has initiated to shape its own geopolitics, this time free from the US leadership, considering the migration crisis and especially the recently security threats over Europe. This paper aims to concentrate on the status of Turkey in EU foreign policy and elaborate the reasons for the rise of EU’s focus on Turkey in its foreign policy in the term between 2016 and 2021. The paper argues that the emphasis made on the role of Turkey has been limited by the EU to several areas such as migration, counterterrorism and energy. Therefore, it is argued that the EU’s approach damages the cooperative understanding between the parties especially within the scope of the candidacy process.

Differentiated cooperation as the mode of governance in EU foreign policy

ABSTRACT While the standard conceptualization of differentiation in the European Union (EU) focuses on differentiated integration, scholars devote less attention to differentiated cooperation. This article argues, on the contrary, that member states’ engagement in differentiated efforts in EU foreign policy manifest themselves both in the form of differentiated integration and cooperation. It elaborates an original conceptual framework for exploring differentiated cooperation as a mode of governance. Drawing on the articles in this special issue, this introduction maps empirical manifestations of differentiated cooperation in various areas and dimensions of EU foreign policy. The results of the special issue show that differentiated cooperation has mostly manifested itself in informal patterns of cooperation, with the treaty-based mechanisms being limited. As such, the special issue reflects the differentiation and informalization processes occurring not only in the EU, but also in global governance more broadly.