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UACES 35th Annual Conference and 10th Research Conference
The European Union: Past and Future Enlargements

Research Session 4

UACES reserves the right at all times to make changes to the programme where necessary.

Session 1  |  Session 2  |  Session 3  |  Session 4  |  Session 5  |  Session 6  |  Full Programme

Tuesday, 6 September (11:15-12:45)

The panels listed in the table below are followed by the abstracts for each of the papers.

Brown, David (Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, d.brown@rmas.mod.uk)
Solution or Sticking Point? Enlargement and the 'War on Terror'
The paper will begin by outlining the position of the EU pre-enlargement, both in terms of a critique of the EU’s nascent counter-terrorist framework, including measures enacted in the wake of September 11^th 2001, and in relation to the nature of the existing terrorist threat.  Without such background, it will be difficult to ascertain the likely impact that enlargement will have.  This will be supplemented by an examination of how a 25 state EU will contribute to tackling terrorism, both at home and in the wider ‘war on terror’.  This latter part will be broken down into three sections.  Firstly, there will be an analysis of the nature of the threat, if any, posed by terrorism within the ‘enlargement states’.  This will be supplemented by a brief assessment of their level of preparedness with regard to the specific counter-terrorist acquis and the wider elements of JHA co-operation.  Finally, the question of whether an enlarged EU is likely to subscribe more fully to the transatlantic partnership and the US vision of what constitutes a ‘war on terror’ will be considered.

Cini, Michelle (University of Bristol, michelle.cini@bris.ac.uk)
Making a Virtue out of Necessity: The Barroso Commission’s First Six Months
This paper will provide an assessment of the first six months of the Barroso Commission. The aim of the article is to assess the impact of the Commission’s ‘pragmatic’ policy agenda, as outlined in January 2005, for its role within the EU system.
To call the Commission pragmatic is to say something more than just that there is little that is ‘new’ about the priorities outlined by Barroso in his recent five year strategy, however. The pragmatism of the Commission lies in its ability to capitalise upon the range of functions it performs. In the case of the Barroso Commission this means that it must be able to manage and implement existing policies effectively, and to work effectively (and not confrontationally) with both national governments, individually and through the Council, and the European Parliament. Before being able to do that, however, the Commission needed to have the administrative capacity to perform well the gamut of functions attributed to it by the Treaty. In the past it was unable to do that, but with recent reforms, administrative and institutional, that may be changing. As such even if what Barroso is doing is making a virtue out of a necessity, the paper argues that this kind of ‘pragmatism’, even if driven by necessity (the inter-institutional context in which the Commission finds itself) provides an opportunity for the Commission to redefine its place in the EU system.

Copsey, Nathaniel (University of Sussex, n.w.copsey@sussex.ac.uk)
Business for Europe? Informed Ukrainian Public Opinion and European Neighbourhood Policy
This paper argues that business people in the growing and increasingly prosperous upper middle class form the principal lobby group for European integration in Ukraine, and are the driving force behind the new push for European integration in 2005.
The paper is divided into three sections:
First, it investigates what this group composes. Second, it examines why this section of the business community is pro-European integration, and argues that the support of the upper middle class for Viktor Yushchenko in central Ukraine was a key factor in determining the outcome of the 2004 presidential election and the Orange Revolution that followed. Third, it looks at the prospects for Ukraine’s European integration over the short and medium term, and assesses what this means for Ukrainian business.
The focus groups and elite interviews on which the research for this paper is based have been generously co-financed by UACES and the University of Sussex. The paper forms part of a DPhil in Political Science at the Sussex European Institute.

Corbett, Anne (London School of Economics & Political Science, a.corbett@lse.ac.uk)
Joint paper with Michael Barzelay
Public Management Policy Change in the European Commission (1995-2004): Toward Comparative Historical Analysis
There is now an extensive literature on the Commission’s different attempts to reform its management structures under both the Santer and the Prodi presidencies. With rare exceptions, these reforms tends to be presented in the conventional terms of political institutions eg in relation to the legitimacy of the Commission, the powers of the Commission presidency, its administrative culture, and/or the task and functions of a public organisation, rather than as an effort to explain EU institutions’ handling of policy-level issues of public management. Furthermore existing accounts treat the Santer and Prodi episodes as separate events, with an emphasis on the heroic achievement of Prodi. Drawing on historical institutionalist concepts of bounded innovation, and conceiving of public management as a policy issue in its own right, this paper sets out to explain the dynamics of institutional change within the EU in terms of the evolution of public management policy from the Santer to Barroso Commission presidencies. It sees this, as a way of strengthening the dialogue between the political scientists impressed that the reform did not run into the sand and the management-oriented scholars who think that what has happened could well be insufficient.

Cremona, Marise (Queen Mary, University of London, m.cremona@qmul.ac.uk)
The EU and Ukraine: A Security-based Neighbourhood Policy
The European Union launched its European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in March 2003. Its emphasis is on promoting stability both within and between the neighbouring States, and economic and social development leading to increased prosperity and enhanced security on the EU’s borders. This paper seeks to explore, from a primarily legal perspective, the security rationale for the ENP and in particular its policy towards Ukraine. Security has provided an impetus for EU policy towards Ukraine since the early 1990’s, and in 2005 it can be identified as a foundation for EU strategy. In this context “security” includes a number of dimensions with different legal implications: internal security (political stability, enhancing democracy and the rule of law, judicial and legal reform, good governance and anti-corruption measures); border security (migration, border control, international crime and terrorism, cross-border environmental issues); and external security (participation in crisis management and other ESDP initiatives, disarmament, non-proliferation and regional security issues). This paper examines the way in which its security objectives have influenced EU policy priorities and the construction of its relations with Ukraine, and asks what conclusions may be drawn for the legal structure and future development of the ENP.

FitzGerald, Maurice (Loughborough University, m.fitzgerald@lboro.ac.uk)
Following British Footsteps? Ireland and the EC 1967-73
This archive based paper examines Ireland’s entry into the European Communities in 1973, with accession only secured at the third time of asking, previous attempts having failed in 1961‑63 and 1967. This paper examines that reactivated second application by the new government of Jack Lynch (Irish prime minister, 1966‑73), before investigating the detailed entry negotiations of 1970‑72, the subsequent landslide referendum, and the country’s preparations for EC membership. Running parallel to these efforts were the steps taken by the United Kingdom to join, a process which at times complicated Dublin’s position as London sought to help, bypass or even hinder Irish endeavours. Informed by the work of Alan Milward and Andrew Moravcsik, this paper makes full use of the primary source materials available at the National Archives in Dublin, the Public Record Office in London, and the National Archives at College Park in Washington. Essentially, it argues that Ireland gradually emerged from the UK’s shadow, and increasingly saw EC membership and interdependent relations as a way to escape dependence on its neighbour. Indeed, once entry was secured, it became clear that the Irish recognised the possibilities inherent in the EC, and were prepared to make accession work in its favour.

Giuffrida, Iria (Queen Mary, University of London, i.giuffrida@qmul.ac.uk)
Accountability in the EU: Does the Commission Possess a Unitary Theory of Accountability?
The events that lead to the resignation of the Santer Commission have been widely considered the inception of a process for the overhaul of accountability at European level. In particular, with the publication of its White Paper on Governance, there has been, at least on paper, a renewed effort on the part of the Commission to give to accountability a greater role in European governance. The aim of this paper is to show that there exists much disagreement, if not even confusion, on what the Commission means by ‘accountability’ and on how it can be obtained. First, the paper looks in detail at the White Paper, its preparatory works and at the institutional responses it received and it singles out themes that can be ascribed to different theories of accountability. Second, the paper relates the quest for accountability to the new modes of governance as they introduce new challenges and it concludes that to avoid empty rhetoric, it is necessary to re-think accountability in meaningful ways to find it a concrete and useful place in the discourse on greater governance.

Gravier, Magali (University of Salzburg, Austria, magali@gravier.org)
Joint paper with Gilbert Weiss
Shifting from the Founding Fathers to Constitutional Patriotism: The European Union’s Strategies of Legitimisation
The myth of the founding fathers of the European Communities plays an important role in discourses on identity and legitimisation of the EU. It serves two main functions: It provides the Union with the respective founding “story” which is necessary for any political community and “personifies” the “European idea”. However, the projected finalité of the EU’s Gestalt – i.e.: the future – is also crucial for its legitimisation. In recent years, the question of the EU’s finalité has gained an ever-increasing attention – particularly in the genre of political speeches. This attention gained institutional form during the works of the European Convention: The EU discourses now contain a new rhetoric, which comes close to constitutional patriotism. Our paper will compare the emergence of this constitutional patriotism in the speeches of EU politicians from 2000 to 2004 and in the internet discussions in the “Discussion Corner” of the EU’s website EUROPA. This investigation will show a shift in the strategies of legitimization of the EU. Max Weber’s theory of legitimacy enables to analyse this shift as an evolution from traditional to legal-rational legitimacy.

Higashino,  Atsuko (Hiroshima-City University, Japan, higashino@1994.jukuin.keio.ac.jp)
The Role of Security Discourse in the Eastern Enlargement of the EU
The need to achieve stability and security in Europe has been a core motivation for European Union actors in their decision in favour of enlargement, calling for new measures to advance the enlargement process. EU leaders have often justified changes to the existing enlargement strategy by making reference to threats to security in Europe and by claiming that eastern enlargement could be the way to attain peace and security in Europe. Never has EU enlargement been so frequently connected with security debates. The overall effect of security concerns on the enlargement process, however, has not been adequately analysed in previous studies of EU enlargement; enlargement policy has largely been explained from economic and commercial viewpoints. My paper explores the role of security concerns in EU enlargement — ‘security’ that does not necessarily come in the military form, but in what I refer to as a ‘speech act’, drawing on insights from the Copenhagen School of security studies. My paper comprises (1) a conceptual framework to consider how ‘security’ as ‘speech act’ (or the ‘securitization’ approach) can explain the enlargement process, (2) case studies of security influences in the context of EU enlargement, and (3) conclusions on when and how security has mattered in the EU enlargement process.

Hilson, Christopher (University of Reading, c.j.hilson@reading.ac.uk)
Legitimacy and Rights in the EU: Questions of Identity
Debates about the EU’s legitimacy show no signs of abating and have, if anything, been reinvigorated by the recent turn to constitutionalism as a field of inquiry. However, the place of rights within the literature on legitimacy has been under-explored. Within much of the literature, there is an assumption that rights (in particular citizenship rights and the Charter) can play a key part in developing a European, civic identity. The paper starts by suggesting the need for the various types of right (Community, citizenship, fundamental) to be disaggregated. Building on the work of Bellamy and others, it then seeks to locate the place of rights and identity within various models for legitimating the EU, ranging from the intergovernmental/communitarian, through the liberal-democratic/cosmopolitan, to the republican. The second part of the paper then seeks to interrogate the under-theorised link between rights and identity that is central to cosmopolitanism. Again employing the disaggregated approach, it explores the identity-potential of the various types of right. In doing so, it draws important distinctions between formal rights and rights-practice, between salient and less salient rights and between ‘thin’ and ‘thick’ identity. The paper concludes with an exploration of how rights fit within other aspects of legitimacy, including the input/output question and flexibility.

Hodson, Dermot (European Commission, d.k.hodson@lse.ac.uk)
EU Economic Governance and Domestic Institutions: A Reply to Political Institutionalism
The first five years of EMU witnessed a dual outcome in euro area economic governance as some Member States secured budgetary positions of close-to-balance-or-in-surplus while others accumulated deficits in excess of the Maastricht Treaty’s 3% reference value. Several contributions to the recent literature, which can be grouped under the heading of political institutionalism, attribute this dual outcome to the fact that the electoral regimes of errant Member States are ill-suited to a commitment technology such as the Stability and Growth Pact. This paper takes issue with political institutionalism’s diagnosis. It presents evidence to suggest that Member States’ capacity for compliance with the Stability and Growth Pact is invariant to the underlying electoral regime providing that the appropriate domestic budgetary institutions are put in place. The paper concludes by drawing out the implications of this finding for the current debate on strengthening the euro area’s system of economic governance.

İçener, Erhan (Queen’s University Belfast, e.icener@qub.ac.uk)
Explaining European Union Enlargement: Why, When and to Whom?
This paper deals with the theoretical approaches which explain why the EU expands its membership. It summarizes and reviews rationalist, constructivist and governance approaches to EU enlargement. By arguing that existing studies do not offer us sufficient explanations of what affects the candidate countries’ positions in the accession process, of the timing of enlargement decisions and of how the EU differentiates between the candidate countries, this paper proposes an alternative two-phased approach to explain why, when and to whom the EU expands its membership. Having showed that it is impossible to explain the whole enlargement process with either rationalist or constructivist approaches alone, this paper offers that while constructivist approaches (interests and cost/benefit analysis are shaped by identity and norms) are useful in explaining the first phase of enlargement which starts with the country’s inclusion in the enlargement process in general and ends with the beginning of accession negotiations, rationalist approaches (interests and cost/benefit analysis are supported by identity and norm-based arguments) provide better explanations for the second phase which starts with the beginning of accession negotiations and ends with the accession.

Jones, Alan (Northampton Business School, alan.jones@northampton.ac.uk)
Joint paper with Grahame Fallon
Tracking the Development of EU Russia Relations: An Exploration of the Progress of Russian Economic Reform and its Affect Upon EU/Russian Economic Relationships
The Putin government has emphasised the need for economic reform in Russia’s development. In the past progress has been made in the development of bilateral arrangements for trade with the EU, but the flow of FDI has been hampered by sluggish economic reform and uncertain institutional frameworks. Similarly progress toward Russia’s membership of the WTO has been halting and fraught with difficulties.
The paper examines the extent to which long promised reform has been realised and examines its impact and potential. It examines the level of development of trade and FDI and the factors that have determined their current levels and progress. It examines those factors relating to the EU in the development of the WTO negotiations and the sticking points that are of particular interest to EU member states.

Keating, Avril (University of Cambridge, aak32@cam.ac.uk)
Conceptualizing the Europeanization of Education Policy: A Case Study of Citizenship Education Policy in the Republic of Ireland
Over the past three decades, the conception of education policy as an area of exclusive national concern has been challenged by globalization, Europeanization and the emergence of international policy agendas. However, as yet, the specific mechanisms through which international agendas and organizations influence national education policies remain relatively unexamined. In this paper, therefore, I seek to open up this debate through an empirical study of how and why national policy actors incorporate European agendas into national education policies.
More specifically, using the Republic of Ireland as a case study, I examine why Irish citizenship education policies have been influenced by the citizenship education initiatives emanating from the European Union and the Council of Europe. By drawing on in-depth interviews with national policy actors and socio-historical institutionalist theories of Europeanization, I identify the factors which facilitate or inhibit the influence of European institutions on a policy area that has long been considered a highly sensitive and exclusively ‘national’ concern. Furthermore, the findings of this study could help us to understand the features and processes of the Europeanization of education policy in general.
The research presented here is part of a wider doctoral study on the Europeanization of citizenship and citizenship education policy.

Kennard, Ann (University of the West of England, Bristol, ann.kennard@uwe.ac.uk)
Who is my Neighbour? The EU as ‘Good Samaritan’ on its New Eastern Border
With the EU accession of eight former eastern bloc countries of Central and Eastern Europe, a new east-west division has been created.  Relationships and identities in the region around the new eastern and south-eastern borders of the EU continue to change and evolve, after a war-torn century during which state borders came and went at the whim of victorious powers. Now the EU, a new player in the region, is making attempts on the one hand to reach out to its ‘New Neighbours’, whilst at the same time using the Schengen regime to dictate the terms on which people may cross these borders.
Using interviews carried out with cross-border actors, the paper will attempt to assess the issues arising from this problematic juxtaposition. What role will the European Neighbourhood Policy, with its ‘tailor-made’ Action Plans for certain neighbouring states play, in a situation where the EU is apparently trying to impose an all-inclusive but differentiated policy structure on non-member states to the east? The paper will discuss the extent to which the EU is likely to be effective in its overtures to its new friends, and whether this will lead to a softening of the external border.

Levy, Roger (Glasgow Caledonian University, r.levy@gcal.ac.uk)
Management Reform and Commission Overload: Solution or Problem?
Prior to the resignation crisis of 1999, it had long been argued that the European Commission was suffering from a lack of capacity and ‘overload’. The incoming Prodi Commission embarked on a programme of administrative and managerial reform under the leadership of Commission Vice President Neil Kinnock. Central to this programme were the objectives of raising managerial capacities and bolstering legitimacy in order that the Commission would be better able to discharge its expanded responsibilities. This article analyses the nature of Commission overload using the theoretical model of governmental overload developed in the 1970s and 80s, identifying three overload dimensions. It quantifies the impact of the reforms in this context and concludes that the overload problem has been aggravated rather than diminished.

Ludlow, Piers (London School of Economics & Political Science, n.p.ludlow@lse.ac.uk)
Part of a Political Deal: How the Hague Bargain Over-rode the Technical Difficulties of Negotiation
This paper will examine the Community politics of EEC enlargement in the early 1970s and contrast these with the failed enlargement of 1961-3.  It will argue that whereas the failed negotiations of the early 1960s suffered because of the lack of a clear political decision in favour of enlargement (either on the part of the principal applicant Britain or the EEC itself), those of the early 1970s were helped to overcome the technical difficulties they encountered by the presence of a pre-existing political deal.  This bargain – reached at the Hague summit of December 1969 – had brought to an end the long running confrontation over enlargement between the French and their partners, by providing for parallel moves towards both the internal development of the Community and the expansion of its membership.  Once this deal was done, the battle over the exact terms of British, Danish, Irish and Norwegian membership, while still time-consuming and at times quite sharp, was fundamentally different from the negotiations of 1961-3.

MacMullen, Andrew (University of Durham, a.l.macmullen@durham.ac.uk)
Functionalism in the Enlarging Europes
Since the end of the Cold War the European Union has been engaged in a process of substantial enlargement.  It operates along side other transnational governmental organisations, such as the Council of Europe, OSCE, European Space Agency, and CERN, as well as more restricted consortia (eg Airbus) and also linkages between subnational groupings.  Some EU policy activities now operate on the basis of selective engagement of the member states (single currency, Schengen), or by methods (soft law) which imply different levels of implementation.  Co-operation and integration has to incorporate a high level of diversity.  In order to encompass these developments it is suggested that rather than continue with the explanatory theories which were based around the assumptions of the monolithic EC ‘Community Method’ approach, it is more fruitful to look to a modified form of the Functionalist model originally proposed by Mitrany.  This can cope better with the diversity of a complex pan-European environment, and can provide for realistic strategies incorporating variable geometries and multi-speed arrangements of participating States.

Maes, Ivo (National Bank of Belgium, ivo.maes@nbb.be)
Joint paper with Lucia Quaglia
Germany and Italy: Competing Policy Paradigms Towards European Monetary Integration?
In the literature on European monetary integration Germany and Italy are mostly strongly contrasted. This paper analyses the policy paradigms in Italy and Germany towards Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). It argues that there were important similarities, in particular if a broad historical perspective is adopted (1970-1998). In both countries, foreign policy makers, under the influence of a strong European federalist vision, were strongly in favour of European monetary integration. These beliefs of foreign decision makers were crucial in charting EMU policy at decisive moments in the EMU process. The pro EMU policy paradigms of foreign policymakers contrasted, during most of the period covered, with the more skeptical beliefs of economic policy makers. In both countries, economic policy-makers, at different moments, had doubts whether enough "convergence" had been reached to make a more stable exchange rate system sustainable. Moreover, a main similarity between Germany and Italy has been the important role played by the respective national central banks in economic policy making and in shaping EMU policy. The (European) federalist vision and the influence of the central bank in their respective societies made the Maastricht EMU framework, with an independent central bank, a natural choice for both countries.

Mayes, David (Bank of Finland, david.mayes@bof.fi)
Joint paper with Karl Driessen
A Robust Approach to Monetary Policy: Monetary Policy for the EU's 'New Neighbours'
In recent years it has become conventional to suggest that sustainable monetary policies will tend to lie at the ends of the spectrum of fixed and flexible exchange rates. Thus countries bordering the EU and hoping to join it are faced with a choice of opting for a currency board or even full euroisation on the one hand or inflation targeting on the other. In turn inflation targeting normally has strong requirements for data, modelling and forecasting the economy if it is to be successful, yet this is incompatible with the position of such countries. This creates a dilemma for countries who feel that a measure of exchange rate flexibility would be of value in facing some of the asymmetric shocks they may receive in the years before close convergence and EU and EMU membership can become a reality. Building on the ideas of 'Inflation Targeting Lite' that have been developed by Mark Stone and others, this paper suggests that there may be a credible approach to inflation targeting based on 'robust policy' as set out by Carl Walsh inter alia. Under robust policy, a central bank is more concerned to avoid making large errors than it is to achieve an optimal policy. It therefore tries to set policy in a way that will be consistent with a variety of plausible views about how the economy may work and so that a wide range of likely shocks will be consistent with the achievement of its inflation target. Such a policy strategy has an asymmetric approach, involving limited action when policy appears on track but firm pre-emptive action when the inflation target is threatened. It thus seeks to avoid both the lack of credibility associated with soft targets and the implausibility fine tuning in the face of poor information. We illustrate the scope for such an approach with examples from the EU's 'new neighbours', particularly Albania and Romania.

McGowan, Lee (Queen’s University Belfast, l.mcgowan@qub.ac.uk)
Federal in all but Name? The Europeanisation of EU Merger Policy
May 1 2004 marks a truly historic date in the evolving history of the European Union. Alongside the much publicised EU enlargement to 25 members this date also initiated what amounts to nothing less than a revolution in the way that competition policy in the European Union is both administered and made. The new changes affect the handling of both anti-trust and mergers cases and aim to both modernise and decentralise decision-making. Merger policy, the focus of this paper, remains the most glamorous and accessible aspect of the European Commission’s activities in the area of competition policy and it has long served as the primary example of supranational regulation. This article assesses the working of merger policy post the 2004 reforms and considers how far these radical changes enhance the federal characteristics of competition governance. It also aims to illustrate how the competition policy has been effectively Europeanised. The article is divided into two main parts: In the first the author provides a discussion of the changing and puissant EU competition regime and in the second, assesses the impact of this new regime and specially the new involvement of the member states within the rubric of the Europeanisation literature.

Murphy, Mary (University College Cork, Ireland, maryc.murphy@ucc.ie)
Europeanisation and the Sub-National Level: Changing Patterns of Governance in Northern Ireland
Studies of Northern Ireland have focused to a significant degree on the dynamics of internal politics, with an explicit emphasis on the internal conflict and its resolution. Little attention has been given to the external context to the governance of Northern Ireland. Like all sub-national units of the European Union, Northern Ireland is subject to the ‘Europeanising’ influences of the EU policy process. This influence became more profound and emphatic in the period after 1999 when powers were devolved to new regional political institutions. In the context of reformed patterns of regional governance, there is evidence emerging of a heightened awareness of and engagement with the European Union. New institutional structures, evolving formal and informal linkages and changed policy mechanisms have been influenced by the European context. The suspension of devolved institutions in Northern Ireland has not meant that this fledgling dynamic has been lost. Rather new interactions (both top-down and bottom-up) between Northern Ireland and the European Union appear to continue, suggesting that the region is a case-study which may fit the key tenets of the ‘Europeanisation’ literature.

Poggiolini, Ilaria (University of Pavia, Italy, ilaria.poggiolini@unipv.it)
A Calculated  Risk? British Policy of Accession to the EEC (1967-73)
This paper aims to discuss the history and historiography of UK accession to the EC, from 1967 to 1973. In historiography, only a few isolated voices have, until recently, questioned a dominant narrative which focuses exclusively on the fallacies of British policy of accession and pay very little attention to the dimension of chance in the regional and global scenario. The dominant argument is still than of the “missed opportunities” and the common metaphor that of busses, trains and boats, constantly departing for European destination without Britain being able to join the “club”. This paper will discuss existing interpretations on the basis of both new archival material and the emergence of new arguments. Though the first bid placed by Britain in order to join the Community in the period 1961-63, has attracted a certain amount of scholarly attention, the second application under  Harold Wilson in 1967, and the policy of accession pursued by Edward Heath in 1972-1973, has only just become a major theme of research and debate. The paper will reflect this new tendency questioning the fatalist view of the “missed opportunities”.

Puetter, Uwe (Central European University, Hungary, puetteru@ceu.hu)
Joint paper with Antje Wiener
Accommodating Normative Divergence in European Foreign Policy Coordination
Conflict between members of international communities about appropriate common policy responses is pushed to the fore by unexpected external events, i.e. economic, political and environmental crises. Most importantly, these situations reveal that the common commitment to liberal norms and the rule of international law is not sufficient to substantiate a consensus over policy. This paper addresses the case of the European Union’s failure to coordinate a common policy response in connection with the United Nations Security Council resolution 1441 on Iraq. Focussing on the example of the diverging positions of two core European allies – the United Kingdom and Germany – this article looks on the issue of how and why these divergences emerged and discusses how the European Union could better respond to such situations in the future by institutionalizing the processes of ‘informed conflict’ over policy within its common decision-making framework. In theoretical terms the paper highlights two competing constructivist approaches to norms in world politics, the ‘rule in practice hypothesis’ and the ‘liberal community hypothesis’, arguing that the former allows for a better understanding of divergent interpretations of the meanings of core norms and principles in the foreign policy process.

Rasmussen, Morten (University of Copenhagen, Denmark, mr@ifs.ku.dk)
To Be or Not to Be European: Denmark’s Road to EC-membership 1967-1973
This archive-based paper on the Danish road to EC-membership will begin by addressing the background to the Danish application and accession to the EC. Two important historical trends shaped Danish European policy after 1945. On the one hand, the historical experience of fighting for survival as a state from 1864 to 1945, and in the process consolidating a democratic and socially cohesive society, created a national identity in which Continental Europe (Germany) was defined as the Other. In the post war period, this perception of Continental Europe would include European integration. On the other hand, Denmark developed strong economic interests in joining a European Community enlarged with Britain, thereby solving the commercial dilemma posed by the Western European market split in the 1960s. The main section of the paper will analyse how the Danish membership negotiations and the domestic decision to join were shaped by these two historical trends. In the end, consensus on Danish accession was obtained by emphasising the economic benefits expected EC-membership, while the political dimension was claimed to be of little consequence. The result was a new EC-member state that would quickly become known as foot dragging, when possible reform of the EC was discussed. The paper will discuss various theoretical explanations of European integration including rational choice inspired socio-economic explanations such as the work of Alan S. Milward and Andrew Moravcsik and constructivist approaches. The conclusion is that a theory driven approach that bases itself on only one major theory is ill equipped to explain the various aspects of the process of European integration.

Schweickert, Rainer (Kiel University, Germany, schweickert@ifw.uni-kiel.de)
EU-Enlargement and Institutional Development: How Far Away are the EU’s Balkan and Black Sea Neighbours
Institutional development in new and potential member countries determines the success of both catching-up of developing European countries and deepening of the European integration process. This papers argues that the timing of future enlargement should depend on institutional convergence between the EU and potential accession candidates. Therefore, the paper looks at institutional quality in the EU, in the EU’s neighbouring Balkan and Black Sea regions, and especially in Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Turkey, and the Ukraine, i.e. the next countries in the queue for entry or likely to lobby for entry into the EU.. Three dimensions of institutional quality – legislative, administrative, and judicial institutions – are analysed on the basis of the World Bank Governance Indicators using institutional quality in EU member states as a benchmark in order to reveal institutional deficits.

Shepherd, Alistair (University of Wales, Aberystwyth, a.shepherd@aber.ac.uk)
The Implications of Enlargement for ESDP and ERRF
This paper will outline the current status of ESDP and the ERRF and then explore what the effects of enlargement may be in the longer term.  The addition of these new states will bring new difficulties, new capabilities and new interests into the field of security.  First, the difficulties will include decision-making, military contributions and interoperability.  Second, the new capabilities will include the normal types of equipment that may be added to the Headline Goal and, perhaps, some specialist capabilities such as NBC protection and decontamination units.  Third, the new states will also bring with them new and different security interests covering other regions and concerns.  This will create further problems for the development of a strategic concept for ESDP, which will be crucial to its long-term success.  Finally, the fact that two of the new member states will not be able to participate fully in ESDP is, in itself, of interest to the development of a coherent and effective policy.  This paper will provide an analysis of the implications that enlargement will have on the emerging defence and security elements of the EU.

Smith, Martin (Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, martinsmith@camberley27.freeserve.co.uk)
EU Enlargement and the Future of NATO
This paper will assess the past, current and potential future impact of EU enlargement on the transatlantic relationship that underlies it and on NATO’s roles and status in European security affairs.  Three specific issue areas will be considered.  Firstly, the extent to which a sense of institutional competition has been evident in the development of the respective EU and NATO enlargement processes.  Have they been formally or informally co-ordinated?  Secondly, the paper looks at the extent to which a more militarised EU will impact on NATO’s established roles and responsibilities in Central and Eastern Europe.  Finally, the potential impact of EU enlargement on transatlantic relations and NATO will be considered. Whether the EU’s strategic horizons become more genuinely global, more parochial or an amalgamation of both will have implications for the future of transatlantic relations. Given the long-standing ambiguity in the attitudes and policies of both Republican and Democratic administrations, how might the US view the potential security implications of EU enlargement and what impact might this have on transatlantic relations and, thus, on NATO?

Stahl, Bernhard (Visa Ekonomska Skola, Serbia & Montenegro, be.stahl@t-online.de)
Understanding the ‘Great Split’ in the Iraq crisis. A Comparative Approach of the Member States’ Foreign Policy
The ‘great split’ in the Iraq crisis despite common institutions has raised serious doubts on the effectiveness of CFSP. The paper seeks to shed light on that problem by systematically comparing the behaviour of eight EU member states in the crisis (D, DK, E, F, GR, I, NL, UK). It will be examined how substantial the split was and some hypotheses will be developed how this can be understood.
Structured and focused comparison will serve as analytical tool to examine member states’ foreign policy behaviour in the Iraq case but also with a view to past crises (Gulf, Kosovo). By so doing, it can be revealed to what extent the outcome of the Iraq affair has really been a surprise. Preliminary reasoning suggests that most countries’ position was perfectly in line with their general pattern of foreign policy behaviour. An application of a combined identity-discourse approach will provide some insights why this was the case. Yet it can already be guessed that some member states’ foreign policy largely deviated from their past behaviour pattern which also deserves some explanation (Germany being an obvious case). Finally, some conclusions are drawn regarding the future of CFSP.

Stegmann McCallion, Malin (University of Limerick, Ireland, malin.mccallion@ul.ie)
Tidying Up? Europeanisation and the Swedish ‘Regional Mess’
The Regional level of governance has been intensively discussed in Sweden since the 1980s. One of the reasons is that Sweden has an obvious national level of administration and an equally obvious local level of administration (with relatively independent municipalities). However, despite the debates regarding change, the county (regional) administration level actually remained incoherent, meaning that the term ‘regional mess’ is frequently used to describe it. Drawing on original empirical work, this paper evaluates recent attempts to change regional governance in Sweden that have resulted from domestic and international (especially European) pressures. In particular, the paper focuses on the experimental reform at regional level - the development of Regional Pilot Project regions and, subsequently, the Regional Development Councils. It establishes the mix of domestic and European pressures which produced these changes, and argues that the result has been an exacerbation, rather than a clearing-up, of the ‘regional mess’.

Torun, Zerrin (University of Sussex, zt21@sussex.ac.uk)
Identity: Stumbling-Block for Turkish Membership to the EU?
The study aims at analysing the issue of Turkish membership to the EU to understand the dynamics behind. Official and unofficial sources confirm that the issue of Turkish membership to the EU is one of the examples that proves the relevance of the concept of identity as an explanatory factor in EU politics. However, it is again this case that draws attention to the fact that neither theories focusing only “identity”, nor the ones focusing only on “interests” would be sufficient to analyse the politics of membership or enlargement. The argument is that the issue of membership of Turkey to the EU demonstrates the need for a synthesis of approaches or theories which takes both interests and identity as explanatory variables to be able to better reflect on politics of membership in the EU context. Taking this into consideration, it becomes difficult to argue that the issue of identity could be considered as the ultimate stumbling-block for Turkish membership to the EU.

Wright, Alex (University of Dundee, a.wright@dundee.ac.uk)
A Devolved Scotland in the EU: An Example of Functional Regionalism?
This paper offers an overview of the first five years of Scottish devolution and how the new governmental arrangements have impacted on Scotland’s relations with the EU. It will consider whether in the light of the first five years experience that Scotland’s foreign affairs’ agenda now enjoys a significantly higher profile than hitherto. The period in question is of interest not simply because it remained to be seen how devolution would evolve. There was also the risk of strategic incoherence because there were three First ministers during the first four years, The paper will then consider how best the evolution of a Scottish EU policy can be conceived. The paper will suggest that whilst multi-level governance was of some salience to regionalism within the EU, it was of less worth to Scotland. It will also briefly assess the relevance of para-diplomacy to Scotland’s foreign affairs agenda. It will end by considering whether ‘functional regionalism’ is a more apt model and it asks whether such a model is applicable not just to the Scottish Executive but also to sectoral policies such as the CFP.

Last modified: Tuesday, 09 August 2005
idD410501ProgrammeR4  +10Mar2005  ©UACES 2005