IMT Institute for Advanced Studies, Lucca Lucca, Italy Speaking with A
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
!"#"$%" & & '& ' (( ) * + ,-!. The dissertation of Lorenzo Ferrari is approved. PhD Programme Coordinator: Prof. Giovanni Orsina Supervisors: Prof. Mark Gilbert (Johns Hopkins University) Prof. Giovanni Orsina Tutor: Dr. Antonio Masala The dissertation of Lorenzo Ferrari has been reviewed by: Prof. Maria Eleonora Guasconi (Università di Genova) Prof. Antonio Varsori (Università di Padova) IMT Institute for Advanced Studies, Lucca 2014 Contents Acknowledgements vii Vita and Publications ix Abstract xi Abbreviations xv Introduction 1 Object and argument of the dissertation 1 Relations with the literature and contribution to it 5 Approach and focus of the analysis 9 Structure of the dissertation 13 Prologue 17 The failure of early attempts at political integration 17 The re-launch of political integration in the late 1960s 21 The choice of the EC as forum for political integration 25 The Hague and Paris Summits 29 1 Building Institutions for the EC's International Activity 33 The establishment of the European Political Cooperation 34 Different views on the evolution of political integration 38 The struggle on the location of the EPC secretariat 43 The struggle on the political role of the Commission 47 Bridging the gap: the creation of the European Council 51 Bridging the gap: the project of European Union 54 The institutional structure for the EC's international 58 activity 2 Enabling the EC to Speak with a Single Voice 61 The Community speaking with a single voice 62 iii Establishing diplomatic relations with third countries 66 Establishing unof>cial relations with the Soviet countries 71 The entry of the Community into the UN General 74 Assembly The EC member states speaking with a single voice 78 No single voice for the EC at the UN Security Council 84 The project of common European embassies 87 Europe may speak with a single voice, but not with only 89 one voice 3 Limited Room for the EC's International Activity 93 Member states' domaines réservés 94 The renunciation to the pursuit of a European defense 97 The adoption of a confrontational stance towards the US 102 The US as the tenth member state of the EC? 107 Consenting to limits to the EC's autonomous activity 112 The establishment of permanent consultations with the US 117 The political space available for the EC's international 121 activity 4 The EC as Partner of the Developing Countries 125 The 1972 Paris Summit and the EC's concern with 126 development The structure of the EC's development cooperation 130 The departure from the Yaoundé model of association 135 The abolition of the reverse preferences 139 The innovative aspects of the Lomé system of cooperation 142 Lomé as a new model of international relations? 147 The weakness of the worldwide tier of cooperation 149 Development cooperation and the assertion of the EC as a 152 distinctive actor 5 The EC as Promoter of a New International Order 155 Offering trade preferences to the developing countries 156 The EC as the most progressive industrialized actor 160 iv How new should the new international economic order be? 163 The Conference on International Economic Cooperation 168 The EC and the outcomes of the CIEC 173 Overcoming blocs: the promotion of interregional dialogue 178 The international order and the assertion of the EC as a 181 distinctive actor 6 The EC as Promoter of Human Rights in Third Countries 183 External pressures putting the EC on the defensive 184 Distancing itself from Portuguese colonialism 187 Distancing itself from human rights violations in Chile 190 Distancing itself from white minority rule in Austral Africa 193 The constraints on the EC's initiatives on Austral Africa 197 The EC taking the offensive on human rights 202 The inclusion of human rights in the Lomé Convention 206 Human rights and the assertion of the EC as a distinctive 211 actor Conclusions 215 The establishment of the EC as an international actor 215 The need to consider both the Community and the EPC 216 The paramount role played by the member states 219 Different conceptions of the EC as an international actor 221 Reasons for stressing the distinctive character of the EC 223 The capabilities–expectations trap 225 Bibliography 229 Chronology 251 Directory of people 257 v vi Acknowledgements vii Vita and publications December 16, 1986 Born, Trento (Italy) 2008 Bachelor's degree in Cultures and Human Rights, Università di Bologna Final mark: 110/110 cum laude 2010 Master's degree in Historical studies, Università di Bologna Final mark: 110/110 cum laude Publications Review to La France, l’Europe et l’aide au développement. Des traités de Rome à nos jours, ed. Gérard Bossuat, in Journal of European Integration History, 19 (2), 2013. Presentations 2013 «What International Role for Europe after Decolonization? Reassessing the External Policies of the EEC, 1960–1975», Conference «Postwar Decolonization and its Impact on Europe» (University of Exeter). — «Adapting European Exceptionalism to a Different World. Continuities and Change in the EEC Development Cooperation in the 1970s», Conference «The Legacies of Colonialism and Development Aid in the 1970s» (University of Trento). — «Making the EC a Distinctive International Actor. The Designers of the EC’s Policies towards the Third World in the 1970s», HEIRS Conference (Aarhus). 2012 «A Civilian Power between Two Superpowers? The EC’s Self- Representation in the Midst of the 1970s Post-Colonial Crises», LSE Summer School on Cold War History (Trento). viii — «Drawing a Post-Imperial Europe. A Socio-Intellectual History of European Elites in the 1970s», GRACEH Conference (Vienna). — «The EU as a Force for Change in the Mediterranean? The Arab Spring and European Institutions’ Evaluations of Past Policies», ECPR Joint Sessions (Antwerp). ix Abstract The object of analysis of this dissertation is the process of the assertion of the European Community as a distinct and distinctive international actor during the 1970s. The main argument is that the EC's activity on the global stage underwent a major qualitative change in those years, increasing considerably in intensity and scope. The EC asserted itself not only as a major economic player, but also as a distinct political player. Moreover, its international activity was endowed with a distinctive character. The EC claimed that it was a «force for good», particularly attached to dialogue and cooperation, and aimed at promoting a more balanced and a more just international order, as well as an original and innovative approach to international relations. To be sure, the EC's international activity remained quite fragmentary, often declaratory, and sometimes ineffective. This was hardly surprising. To a large extent, disappointment with the EC's achievements was due to the excessively high expectations that had been held of its activity. Contrary to most existing historiography, I argue that the 1973–74 crisis was more a beginning than an ending point for the assertion of the EC as an international actor. In those years its traits and ambitions were de>ned. The European Council was established and the coherence of the EC's international activity was improved. The EC became a recognizable player at the UN and it gained recognition by basically all of the world's countries. The range of action available for the EC's international activity was de>ned and quite a clear division of labor with the member states and with the US was established, leading the EC to focus on “civilian” activities and to cultivate a distinctive pro>le. This is the >rst extensive and dedicated historical account of the EC's international activity as a whole during the 1970s. I consider all the main aspects of it, in order to reconstruct the overall process of assertion of the EC on the international stage and the general traits of the EC as an international actor. I consider how and why such an assertion was promoted, how it was connected to other contemporary developments, and who infuenced the de>nition of the traits of the EC as a global player. I focus on instances where the assertion of the EC on the global stage was debated and its traits were de>ned. In most cases debates about it were not explicit, and debates on more speci>c and x actual topics worked as proxies for them. As a consequence, I focus on the aspects of the EC's international activity where the fundamental conceptions underlying it were the most apparent. Actors involved in the making of the EC as an international actor often held different views and conceptions of it. The compromise and combination of these different conceptions led to the de>nition and assertion of the EC's speci>c traits as an international actor. The main actors involved were the governments of the EC member states – a particularly important role being played by France – but the EC Commission also took some signi>cant initiatives. In order to reconstruct the views of the governments and of the Commission, I rely mainly on archival sources drawn from the archives of the EC institutions and from the archives of the foreign ministries of France, Britain and Germany. The >rst three chapters of the thesis focus on the process of establishment of the EC as a distinct international actor. Thus, they focus on the de>nition of the structures, procedures and means for its international activity. I show that the design of the institutional structure for it was quite dif>cult and it often required to reach fragile and ambiguous compromises. The reason for this was that the institutional design was strongly affected by the member states' views on the >nal form of European political integration, which were divergent. I look at the means created for the expression of the EC's voice on the international stage, and I argue that the main reason why the EC did not always manage to speak clearly was its member states' reticence about it.