The presence of eurocentrism in the European Union's (EU) foreign policy towards the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) reproduces colonial dynamics that undermine the pragmatic and ethical relevance of the EU as an international actor. This article questions eurocentric assumptions underpinning the EU's foreign policy towards the MENA, specifically analysing the case of Algeria. It proposes an innovative conceptual framework drawing on the decentring literature as well as post‐structuralist insights from Cebeci's work. When analysed in politico‐cultural, socio‐economic and security terms, EU‐Algeria relations reflect spatial, normative, polity and disciplinary Eurocentricity, which becomes manifest in the hierarchical, asymmetrical and securitised nature of this relationship. These findings contribute to the decentring turn in the literature by attempting to put the ‘foreign’ back into the study and practice of foreign policy, recognising colonial linearity and addressing its enduring avatars.
{"title":"Decentring European Union Foreign Policy: Addressing Colonial Dynamics in EU‐Algeria Relations","authors":"Francois Barbieux, Dimitris Bouris","doi":"10.1111/jcms.13688","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13688","url":null,"abstract":"The presence of eurocentrism in the European Union's (EU) foreign policy towards the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) reproduces colonial dynamics that undermine the pragmatic and ethical relevance of the EU as an international actor. This article questions eurocentric assumptions underpinning the EU's foreign policy towards the MENA, specifically analysing the case of Algeria. It proposes an innovative conceptual framework drawing on the decentring literature as well as post‐structuralist insights from Cebeci's work. When analysed in politico‐cultural, socio‐economic and security terms, EU‐Algeria relations reflect spatial, normative, polity and disciplinary Eurocentricity, which becomes manifest in the hierarchical, asymmetrical and securitised nature of this relationship. These findings contribute to the decentring turn in the literature by attempting to put the ‘foreign’ back into the study and practice of foreign policy, recognising colonial linearity and addressing its enduring avatars.","PeriodicalId":51369,"journal":{"name":"Jcms-Journal of Common Market Studies","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142176411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Oriol Costa, Ana E. Juncos, Patrick Müller, Helene Sjursen
{"title":"Contested but Resilient: Accounting for the Endurance of the European Union's Foreign Policy","authors":"Oriol Costa, Ana E. Juncos, Patrick Müller, Helene Sjursen","doi":"10.1111/jcms.13686","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13686","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51369,"journal":{"name":"Jcms-Journal of Common Market Studies","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142176408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The European Union's (EU's) policy towards fragile and conflict‐affected (FCA) countries has been framed by a normative solidarity narrative that promotes and legitimises collective action. Over the past two decades, the EU's commitment to protecting the security of its citizens has increasingly become a strong, competing normative driver of EU engagement in FCA countries. In tracing its evolution, this symposium article shows how the collision of the ‘solidarity’ and ‘protection’ norms has shaped the EU's approach towards state fragility. We illustrate this by discussing the policy frameworks for the EU's engagements in Mali and Libya. We argue that whilst the increasing relative strength of the protection norm has not united EU Member States around a common set of objectives, the solidarity norm has proven to be resilient at the discursive level. However, the increasing prevalence of the protection norm has weakened the solidarity norm's influence on policy practice. This has had systemic effects and contributed to incoherencies in the EU's foreign policy approach.
{"title":"Two Norms Collide: EU Policy on Fragile and Conflict‐Affected Countries","authors":"Julian Bergmann, Mark Furness","doi":"10.1111/jcms.13636","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13636","url":null,"abstract":"The European Union's (EU's) policy towards fragile and conflict‐affected (FCA) countries has been framed by a normative solidarity narrative that promotes and legitimises collective action. Over the past two decades, the EU's commitment to protecting the security of its citizens has increasingly become a strong, competing normative driver of EU engagement in FCA countries. In tracing its evolution, this symposium article shows how the collision of the ‘solidarity’ and ‘protection’ norms has shaped the EU's approach towards state fragility. We illustrate this by discussing the policy frameworks for the EU's engagements in Mali and Libya. We argue that whilst the increasing relative strength of the protection norm has not united EU Member States around a common set of objectives, the solidarity norm has proven to be resilient at the discursive level. However, the increasing prevalence of the protection norm has weakened the solidarity norm's influence on policy practice. This has had systemic effects and contributed to incoherencies in the EU's foreign policy approach.","PeriodicalId":51369,"journal":{"name":"Jcms-Journal of Common Market Studies","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142176410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Positioned within a perceptual approach to European Union (EU) foreign policy, this article explores tensions relating to the resilience of the EU's normative identity, focusing on factors and explanations external to the EU. We engage with EU perceptions amongst external partners theorized as active agents/potential contributors to contestation processes. We focus on the perceived role of the EU as an international normative actor expected to mitigate the existential risks of climate change and pandemics for its own citizens and globally. We hypothesize two conditions for EU images to become less (or more) resilient in the face of contestation: (1) persistent contradictions leading to expectation–performance gaps as an initial condition and (2) situations of crisis, marked by perceptions of a watershed/historical event and strong emotions, that may amplify the expectation–performance gap. Empirically, we engage with the findings of the two major studies of EU external perceptions held by the EU's key global partners.
{"title":"European Union Normative Positions, Resilience and Contestation: A Perceptual Approach","authors":"Natalia Chaban, Ole Elgström","doi":"10.1111/jcms.13665","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13665","url":null,"abstract":"Positioned within a perceptual approach to European Union (EU) foreign policy, this article explores tensions relating to the resilience of the EU's normative identity, focusing on factors and explanations external to the EU. We engage with EU perceptions amongst external partners theorized as active agents/potential contributors to contestation processes. We focus on the perceived role of the EU as an international normative actor expected to mitigate the existential risks of climate change and pandemics for its own citizens and globally. We hypothesize two conditions for EU images to become less (or more) resilient in the face of contestation: (1) persistent contradictions leading to expectation–performance gaps as an initial condition and (2) situations of crisis, marked by perceptions of a watershed/historical event and strong emotions, that may amplify the expectation–performance gap. Empirically, we engage with the findings of the two major studies of EU external perceptions held by the EU's key global partners.","PeriodicalId":51369,"journal":{"name":"Jcms-Journal of Common Market Studies","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142176409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The European Union (EU) is facing a democratic deficit, which scholars have argued political parties could help resolve. However, few have asked what model of party (system) is suitable for achieving this. To assume that the models of party politics used in the nation‐state context can simply be transposed to the European level would be mistaken. A new model is needed that theorises parties as genuine multilevel actors whose behaviour at the European level can only be understood by also appreciating national‐level dynamics, and vice versa. I argue that organisational field theory can help innovate the way we think about party democracy in the EU, introducing the European Multilevel Party Field. It is based on the understanding that European politics is ‘everything everywhere all at once’, with actors operating in permanent interdependence with others across levels and borders. This model helps capture more accurately the complex reality of European politics.
{"title":"Everything Everywhere All at Once? Introducing a Field‐Theoretic Model for Party Politics in the European Union","authors":"Gilles Pittoors","doi":"10.1111/jcms.13662","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13662","url":null,"abstract":"The European Union (EU) is facing a democratic deficit, which scholars have argued political parties could help resolve. However, few have asked what model of party (system) is suitable for achieving this. To assume that the models of party politics used in the nation‐state context can simply be transposed to the European level would be mistaken. A new model is needed that theorises parties as genuine multilevel actors whose behaviour at the European level can only be understood by also appreciating national‐level dynamics, and vice versa. I argue that organisational field theory can help innovate the way we think about party democracy in the EU, introducing the European Multilevel Party Field. It is based on the understanding that European politics is ‘everything everywhere all at once’, with actors operating in permanent interdependence with others across levels and borders. This model helps capture more accurately the complex reality of European politics.","PeriodicalId":51369,"journal":{"name":"Jcms-Journal of Common Market Studies","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142176412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Thank you to Reviewers list July 2019–July 2023","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/jcms.13683","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13683","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51369,"journal":{"name":"Jcms-Journal of Common Market Studies","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142176413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article discusses the proposal for an EU emissions trading system for transport and buildings (the ETS2), again with the EU as an international pioneer. How did this controversial proposal come to be adopted in 2023? This study links up to recent EU studies highlighting co‐ordination and interaction between the EU institutions. The Commission helped bring about the ETS2 by strategically using different types of issue linking, both positively and more coercively. In the Parliament, senior members of the European Parliament managed to increase support for the ETS2 by inter‐institutional networking and achieving concessions as to flexible mechanisms. Amongst the member states, heavyweight ETS2 proponents had help from the Commission in bringing sceptical countries on board. Hence, several types of synergistic interaction can be noted, facilitated also by trilogues as the more intimate arena for final compromises. Not least, the increasing role of policy packaging highlights the need for further research on changing inter‐institutional dynamics.
{"title":"EU Emissions Trading for Transport and Buildings: Saved by Synergistic Institutional Interaction?","authors":"Jørgen Wettestad","doi":"10.1111/jcms.13671","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13671","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses the proposal for an EU emissions trading system for transport and buildings (the ETS2), again with the EU as an international pioneer. How did this controversial proposal come to be adopted in 2023? This study links up to recent EU studies highlighting co‐ordination and interaction between the EU institutions. The Commission helped bring about the ETS2 by strategically using different types of issue linking, both positively and more coercively. In the Parliament, senior members of the European Parliament managed to increase support for the ETS2 by inter‐institutional networking and achieving concessions as to flexible mechanisms. Amongst the member states, heavyweight ETS2 proponents had help from the Commission in bringing sceptical countries on board. Hence, several types of synergistic interaction can be noted, facilitated also by trilogues as the more intimate arena for final compromises. Not least, the increasing role of policy packaging highlights the need for further research on changing inter‐institutional dynamics.","PeriodicalId":51369,"journal":{"name":"Jcms-Journal of Common Market Studies","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142176414","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The 2023 Elections in Greece and Spain: Evolving Party Systems in Post‐Crisis Southern Europe","authors":"Susannah Verney, Bonnie N. Field","doi":"10.1111/jcms.13658","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13658","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51369,"journal":{"name":"Jcms-Journal of Common Market Studies","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142176416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Navigating Complexity: Continuity and Change in European Governance, 2023/2024","authors":"Gianfranco Baldini, Elena Baracani, Sorina Soare","doi":"10.1111/jcms.13682","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13682","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51369,"journal":{"name":"Jcms-Journal of Common Market Studies","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142176415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The New Pact on Migration: Embedded Illiberalism?","authors":"Sarah Wolff","doi":"10.1111/jcms.13669","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13669","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51369,"journal":{"name":"Jcms-Journal of Common Market Studies","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142176417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}