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THE EUROPEAN UNION’S NORTHERN DIMENSION: A CASE OF FOREIGN POLICY “BY THE BACKDOOR”? Nicola Catellani The London School of Economics and Political Science PhD in International Relations 1 UMI Number: U615624 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615624 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 T/-b£ s s f §303 lUWWjf The thesis will examine, broadly speaking, the external relations of the European Union (EU) with its Northern neighbours in the light of the development of a new policy dedicated to this purpose: the Northern Dimension. In the thesis it is argued that the Northern Dimension deviates significantly from previous policies that the EU has developed to deal with its neighbours due to a number of elements: the absence of a dedicated budget line, the involvement of “outsiders” in the implementation phase, e.g. the regional organisations like the Council of the Baltic Sea States and the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, and the horizontal agenda based on tangible issues like environment threats, including nuclear wastes management, fight against organised crime and health issues. While analysing the content of the initiative, attention will be devoted to the political process that has led to the creation of the Northern Dimension. Particular emphasis will be attached to elements like the role of small member states in the definition of the foreign policy interests of the EU and the political dynamics characterising the relations among the EU institutions, in particular the Commission and the EU Council, when it comes to shaping the relations with key neighbouring countries. In the final part of the work a comparison will drawn between the Northern Dimension and the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP), the policy that the EU has set up to deal with its Southern neighbours. The most important element emerging from the comparative analysis reflects the claim that the development of a grand strategy and the allocation of significant resources, as the case of the EMP demonstrates, are not necessarily ingredients that lead to a successful policy :owards the neighbouring areas. It will be demonstrated that the Northern Dimension has been comparatively more successful and effective than the EMP, hanks to the political perseverance of the Nordic (EU) member states, the active participation of the regional organisations and the focus on a “low-politics” well- prioritised political agenda. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT........................................................................................................... 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS..................................................................... 3 LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES.................................................................. 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.............................................................................. 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMNTS........................................... 9 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION_______________________________________________10 1.1 The actors in the N orthern D imension ’s institutional process 17 1.2. Tapping into the N orthern D im ension ......................................................20 1.2.1. The horizontal element .........................................................................................21 1.2.2. The vertical aspect ................................................................................................ 22 1.3. Placing the N orthern D imension in the framew ork of EU FOREIGN POLICY ........................................................................................... 25 1.4. The N orthern D imension in the literature ........................................... 35 1.5. Outline of the t h e sis ...................................................................................... 41 1.6. On methodology and terminology ........................................................... 43 CHAPTER 2. THE NORTHERN DIMENSION AREA FROM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE_________________________________________________46 2.1. N orthern E urope and the cold w ar : the issue of se c u r it y 47 2.2. N ordic cooperation .........................................................................................52 2.2.1. Nordism and the roots of Nordic identity....................................................... 52 2.2.2. The institutions ......................................................................................................53 2.2.3. Achievements, method and limitations. ............................................................54 2.2.4. Elements of a model?........................................................................................... 56 2.3. The European Community and N orthern Eu r o pe ............................... 58 2.3.1. 1952-1973: Northern Europe as an outsider..................................................58 2.3.2. The beginning of Northern Europe’s road to Brussels: Denmark becomes a member of the EC. ...........................................................................63 2.4. The END OF THE COLD WAR .................................................................................67 2.5. Conclusions : drawing links betw een the historical background AND THE EU APPROACH TOWARDS THE NORTHERN NEIGHBOURHOOD.... 70 3 CHAPTER 3. THE ORIGINS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORTHERN DIMENSION___________________________________________________73 3.1. The emergence of a post-cold w ar regional agenda in N orthern E urope ........................................................................ 74 3.2. Shaping the external relations of the EU towards N orthern E urope : the competitive approaches of the N o r d ic s ....................... 78 3.2.1. The Council of the Baltic Sea States............................................................... 87 3.2.2. The Barents Euro-Arctic Council.....................................................................93 3.2.3 The Arctic Council.............................................................................................. 98 3.3. F inland and the origins of the N orthern D imension .......................100 3.4. The ND goes Europe : Looking into the process of CUSTOMISATION............................. 104 3.5. T he Baltic Sea Region Initiative .............................................................. 109 3.6. Shaping the N orthern D imension : the Finnish proposal ................ 110 3.7. C onclusions ...................................................................................................... 117 CHAPTER 4. THE NORTHERN DIMENSION: DEVELOPMENT AND OUTCOME.. 118 4.1. D efining the N orthern D imension ............................................................118 4.2 The EU institutional pr o c e ss....................................................................124 4.2.1. The first phase ......................................................................................................124 4.2.2. The second phase ................................................................................................127 4.2.3. The third phase................................................................................................... 137 4.3. Comparing the outcome of the institutional process w ith the original Finnish proposal ..........................................................................141 4.4. T he output of the N orthern D im en sio n ................................................ 145 4.4.1. The Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership ............................... 147 4.4.2. The Northern eDimension................................................................................. 149 4.5. Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 151 CHAPTERS. THE NORTHERN DIMENSION AND ITS INNOVATIVE ELEMENTS.......................................................................................................157 5.1. THE VERTICAL ELEMENT: THE INCLUSION OF THE REGIONAL NETWORKS........................................................................................................158 5.2. T he Horizontal Elem ent : Beyond A Functional Approach ? .... 169 5.2.1. The European Commission and the issue of “Enhanced Coordination ” ....176 5.3. T he ND’ s innovative elements and “network governance ” 178 5.4. Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 188 4 CHAPTER 6. THE NORTHERN DIMENSION AND THE BARCELONA PROCESS: A COMPARISON________________________________________________190 6.1. The M editerranean , a multi -faceted neighbourhood ...................191 6.2. Origins and development of the “Southern D imension " of the EU ’S EXTERNAL POLICIES: FROM THE BILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENTS OF THE 1960S TO THE EARLY 1990S................................................................194 6.3. The Barcelona Process................................................................................209