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External policies I: CFSP and Common Commercial Policy.

External policies I: CFSP and Common Commercial Policy. Prof. Andreas Bieler. Structure of lecture. Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP); Common Commercial Policy (CCP);. I. Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP):. 1. Theoretical remarks:

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External policies I: CFSP and Common Commercial Policy.

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  1. External policies I: CFSP and Common Commercial Policy. Prof. Andreas Bieler

  2. Structure of lecture • Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP); • Common Commercial Policy (CCP);

  3. I. Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP): 1. Theoretical remarks: • Neo-functionalism: the logic of spill-over implies integration in more and more related areas including issues of foreign policy and political union more generally; • (Liberal) intergovernmentalism: there is a clear distinction between low politics including areas such as economic co-operation and areas of high politics consisting of foreign, security and defence policy. Integration will only take place in the former;

  4. What is EU foreign policy? • foreign policy also includes issues such as EU enlargement and common commercial policy, not only matters of security and defence; • problem: too much focus on institutional set-up and on the activities in Pillar 2, when analysing EU foreign policy; • supranational institutions are more involved in EU enlargement and common commercial policy and the EU acts as a stronger and more unitary actor in these areas;

  5. 2. History of CFSP: • 1954 failure of European Defence Community; • 1970 establishment of the European Political Co-operation (EPC); • 1991 Treaty of Maastricht including the second pillar of a Common Foreign and Security Policy;

  6. 3. The Treaty of Maastricht and CFSP: • confirmation of European Council as main decision-making institution; • West European Union is linked to EU; • defence policy: the Treaty pointed to ‘the eventual framing of a common defence policy, which might in time lead to a common defence’;

  7. Empirical reality – break up of Yugoslavia and the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo: • July 1995 NATO air attacks on Yugoslav army after massacre of Srebrenica; • November 1995 Peace Deal in Dayton under US leadership; • March/April 1999: air attacks on Serb forces in Kosovo by NATO, but united EU position throughout the conflict;

  8. 4. The Treaty of Amsterdam: • institutional improvements: (1) new policy planning and early warning unit; (2) M. PESC, heading this unit and bringing together officials from the Council, WEU, member states and the Commission; • incorporation of the WEU-Petersberg tasks into the EU remit: humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking; • no further clarification about common defence policy;

  9. 5. Recent Developments: • December 1999: at the Helsinki European Council the EU agrees on the formation of a rapid reaction force of 50.000 to 60.000 soldiers by 2003; • December 2000: the Treaty of Nice agrees on closer integration of WEU in EU via the Political and Security Committee and confirms the formation of the rapid reaction force; • war on Iraq demonstrated continuing deep-rooted differences between EU members on foreign policy; • 2005 command of the military stabilisation force in Bosnia & Herzegovina was transferred from Nato to the EU;

  10. 6. Why is it so difficult to forge a common foreign policy? • Weak institutions; • No convergence of national interests; • Lack of common European identity; • Complex institutional web in European security; • ‘Brusselisation’ rather than integration;

  11. 7. Points for further reflection: • In what way is the EU superior to military organisations such as NATO? • Is a military capacity for the EU desirable? • What is the purpose of such a military capacity?

  12. II. The EU as a global actor: the common commercial policy (CCP). • General background: • the Commission is the EU’s main representation within the area of the common commercial policy, a Pillar I issue, and within the World Trade organisation; • what is the social purpose underlying the EU common commercial policy?

  13. 2. EU foreign trade policy: • clear understanding of the social and political project underpinning foreign policy by EU policy-makers: trade partners have to commit themselves to neo-liberal restructuring in tandem with commitments to human rights, the rule of law and representative democracy; • social purpose: strengthening of European competitiveness on the global market in view of competition with the US-led North American regional bloc and Japan;

  14. 3. The EU’s wider role: Global Europe; • the ACP-EU partnership agreement based on preferential treatment was signed in Cotonou in 2000, but is no longer compatible with WTO regulations; • the EU intends to move towards WTO-compatible Economic Partnership Agreements with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, which are presented by the European Commission as ‘trade and co-operation agreements at the service of development’; • critical NGOs such as War on Want question this benevolent interpretation: attack on developing countries’ economy in the interest of European capital;

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