Ethical Norm Promotion in European Union Foreign Policy
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Ethical Norm Promotion in European Union Foreign Policy: Responding to the Arab Uprisings in the Southern Neighbourhood Chris Meikle A thesis submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Otago 2016 ii Abstract The European Union (EU) has increasingly used its external policy mechanisms to export the principles that it was founded upon: democracy, rule of law, social justice and, in particular, respect for human rights. This approach has long been evident in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which includes the Union for the Mediterranean states to the south. However, a number of these southern states have been thrown into disarray by the popular revolutions which swept through the Arab world in 2011; although these uprisings seem to share many of the principles which the EU has sought to promote, the implications for the EU’s role in the region are still far from clear. In order to assess the extent to which the EU has demonstrated an ethically normative foreign policy in response to the Arab Uprisings, this research sets out to establish which of the international norms that the EU promotes in the North Africa and Middle East (MENA) region can be considered ethical, and whether or not they can be differentiated from the EU’s “interests”. The discussion of ethics, norms and interests in EU external action is situated within the Normative Power Europe literature, which also provides the theoretical framework for the analysis that takes place in later chapters. It is shown that the EU correlates its promotion of some norms with international human rights discourse, and rhetorically advances itself as an ethically normative actor by highlighting the centrality of such norms to its international identity. The EU’s policy towards the MENA region is assessed before, during and after the Arab Uprisings, both at a regional and a bilateral level, the latter with regard to the particular cases of Tunisia and Morocco. The research draws on an analysis of official EU documents, secondary academic sources and interviews conducted in Brussels, Tunis and Rabat, in order to evaluate the EU’s evolving priorities in its southern neighbourhood. It is argued that despite a steady rhetorical commitment to ethical norm promotion in the region, the EU has consistently prioritised issues such as security and migration, with the exception of its immediate response to the uprisings in 2011. To explain this temporary and aberrant substantive shift, a hypothesis is presented drawing on Frank Schimmelfennig’s theory of rhetorical action, showing the consequences resulting from the intersection of the EU’s own rhetoric with the international attention garnered by the so-called “Arab Spring”. An analysis of policy responses to the Arab Uprisings not only sheds light on the nature, scope and limitations of ethics and norms in EU foreign policy, but also clarifies the nature of the EU as an international actor. iii iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Jim Headley, who supported this research project impeccably from start to finish. I would also like to thank my secondary supervisor, Nicholas Khoo, and all the academic staff at the University of Otago Department of Politics, many of whom offered sage advice at different stages of the research journey. I am grateful to those institutions that helped fund the various research trips to support this thesis: University of Otago, New Zealand European Union Centres Network, and the Claude McCarthy Fellowship. Thanks also to the many interviewees in Belgium, Tunisia and Morocco, who were so generous with their time, thoughts and opinions. And finally, I would like to thank my family and my partner Sarah, for all the support, both practical and emotional, even when I was sure I did not need it. v vi Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgements v Contents vii Abbreviations xi Introduction 1 Background, context and relevance 1 Research design 4 Methodology, ethical considerations and limitations 8 Thesis structure and argument 11 Part I 12 Part II 16 Part III 18 Part I Chapter 1 Theories of Ethics in International Relations 23 Introduction 23 Conceptual formalities 24 Are moral considerations a feature of international affairs? 26 Realism: the limits and subordination of ethics 27 Liberalism: the primacy of a universal morality 31 Social constructivism: co-constitution and the feasibility of moral progress 35 Justifying moral considerations in international affairs 39 Consequentialist ethics 40 Deontological ethics 42 The contractarian tradition 44 The language of human rights 47 Scope and responsibility 51 Cosmopolitanism versus communitarianism 52 The ethics of intervention 55 Chapter 2 The Foreign Policy of the European Union 59 Introduction 59 The development of EU external action 60 Background 60 The Common Foreign and Security Policy 63 Enlargement and the European Neighbourhood Policy 66 Institutional framework of EU foreign policy 69 Council of the European Union 70 European Parliament 72 European Commission 75 European External Action Service 77 The EU as an international actor 80 vii Chapter 3 The EU’s promotion of ethical norms 85 Introduction 85 Normative Power Europe? 86 Ethics, norms and interests 90 The structural benefits of international norm promotion 91 Norms versus self-regarding interests 93 Technical norms as collective interests 96 The EU’s ethical norms as other-regarding interests 99 Ethical norms and EU identity 101 Institutional rhetoric 102 A unique point of consensus 104 The rhetoric of legitimacy 106 “Normative” issues 109 Universalism 110 Political conditionality 112 Part II Chapter 4 EU policy towards the MENA region prior to the Arab Uprisings 119 Introduction 119 Colonial legacy 120 The European Community 122 Euro-Mediterranean Partnership 123 European Neighbourhood Policy 126 Union for the Mediterranean 129 EU foreign policy objectives in the region 132 Ethical norm promotion 132 Stability and security 134 Chapter 5 EU policy in response to the Arab Uprisings 137 Introduction 137 The Arab Uprisings 138 Early EU response 142 Regional policy documents 145 A Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity 145 A New Response to a Changing Neighbourhood 148 The Agenda for Change 150 Institutional developments 152 Neighbourhood Civil Society Facility 152 European Endowment for Democracy 153 Support to Partnership, Reform and Inclusive Growth 155 Financial response 156 European Neighbourhood Policy 158 EU foreign policy objectives in the region 159 viii Chapter 6 EU policy towards the MENA region post-2011 163 Introduction 163 Overview of regional developments 164 Financial response 169 SPRING Programme and the “more for more” principle 171 Civil society 173 Migration and security 175 European Neighbourhood Policy 178 EU foreign policy objectives in the region 180 Chapter 7 Interpretation of the regional analysis 185 Introduction 185 EU foreign policy priorities in the region 186 An explanatory hypothesis: rhetorical self-entrapment 190 Frank Schimmelfennig’s theory of rhetorical action 191 Rhetorical commitment: EU identity and ethical norm promotion 193 Rhetorical argumentation: international media coverage 195 Rhetorical self-entrapment: a crisis of legitimacy 198 Universalism, Islamists and civil society 203 Political conditionality: “more for more”, or more of the same? 207 Part III Chapter 8 Tunisia 211 Introduction 211 EU policy towards Tunisia prior to 2011 212 The “Tunisian Spring” 217 EU policy in response to the Tunisian Uprising 220 EU policy towards Tunisia post-2011 223 Interpretation of bilateral analysis 230 EU policy objectives towards Tunisia 231 Rhetorical self-entrapment 233 Universalism, Islamists and civil society 234 Political conditionality: “more for more”, or more of the same? 237 Chapter 9 Morocco 241 Introduction 241 EU policy towards Morocco prior to 2011 242 The “Moroccan Spring” 248 EU policy in response to the Morocco Uprising 250 EU policy towards Morocco post-2011 252 Interpretation of bilateral analysis 257 EU policy objectives towards Morocco 257 Rhetorical self-entrapment 260 Universalism, Islamists and civil society 261 Political conditionality: “more for more”, or more of the same? 263 ix Conclusion 267 Overview 267 EU policy objectives towards the MENA region 269 Rhetorical self-entrapment 271 Universalism, Islamists and civil society 273 Political conditionality: “more for more”, or more of the same? 275 Theorising the EU’s policy towards the MENA region 276 Policy implications: a prescriptive assessment 280 Bibliography 283 Interviews 283 References 287 x Abbreviations African, Caribbean and Pacific (countries) ACP A New Response to a Changing Neighbourhood NRCN A Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity PfDSP Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam CDHRI Central/Eastern European country CEEC Civil Society Facility CSF Civil Society Organisation CSO Committee of Permanent Representatives COREPER Common Foreign and Security Policy CFSP Common Security and Defence Policy CSDP Country-Based Support Scheme CBSS Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area DCFTA Directorate-General DG European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders FRONTEX European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EBRD European Coal and Steel Community ECSC European Community EC European Convention on Human Rights ECHR European Economic Community EEC European Endowment for Democracy EED European External Action Service EEAS European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights EIDHR European Investment