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THE INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE EU’S AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY AND JUSTICE: ROLES, BEHAVIORS, AND THE LOGIC OF JUSTIFICATION By Adina Maricuț Submitted to Central European University Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervisor: Professor Uwe Puetter CEU eTD Collection Budapest, Hungary 2016 COPYRIGHT NOTICE I hereby declare that this thesis contains no materials accepted for any other degree in any other institution. The thesis contains no materials previously written and/or published by another person, except where appropriate acknowledgment is made in the form of bibliographical reference. Adina Maricuț April 21, 2016 CEU eTD Collection i ABSTRACT This thesis explores evolving patterns of European Union (EU) institutional behavior in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). The starting point is the puzzling development of the AFSJ on the EU agenda, which cannot be neatly subsumed under any of the existing theoretical conceptualizations of decision-making in the EU. Given the continuous expansion of the AFSJ since the Maastricht Treaty (1993), the roles of the four decision-making institutions in the field—the European Council, the Council, the European Commission, and the European Parliament—have been anything but stable. Over time, institutional behavior in the AFSJ has displayed both continuity and inconsistencies in its patterns. The academic literature can only partly account for these patterns, mainly because the rapid and fragmented development of the field has made scholars focus predominantly on individual institutions, specific time periods, or single AFSJ subfields. To address this gap, the present thesis introduces an alternative approach to explaining different patterns of institutional behavior in the AFSJ throughout time. Theoretically, the argument draws on insights from organizational theory regarding institutional role expectations combined with the work of political theorist Michael Saward on representative claims-making. It is posited that institutional behavior in the AFSJ cannot be fully understood without examining how each institution seeks to legitimize its role in the EU political system. If treaty rules provide the organizational structure within which institutional roles develop, officials give substance to these roles by constantly justifying policy positions and decisions for the benefit CEU eTD Collection of a constituency they claim to represent. But since the boundaries of constituencies are ambiguous in the EU political system, officials have significant leeway to portray their respective constituency in various ways, providing different lines of justification. ii The qualitative longitudinal study of institutional behavior in the AFSJ from the perspective of patterns of justification is divided into three parts. First, the origins of institutional justification in the AFSJ are traced back to the period before the field became a formal area of EU activity (1984-93). Second, the consolidation and diversification of institutional lines of justification are identified during the gradual communitarization of the field from the Maastricht to the Lisbon Treaty (1994-2009). Third, the stabilization in variation of institutional justification in the AFSJ is illustrated in the post-Lisbon context (2010-2014). The analysis reveals that the more competences EU institutions gained in the AFSJ, the broader the universe of constituencies in the name of whom representative claims could be made, and accordingly the higher the possibility for heterogeneous and even contrasting patterns of institutional justification. The focus on justification additionally allows the identification of mechanisms of inter-institutional conflict in the AFSJ, which is shown to occur when institutions defend policy positions by making competitive representative claims. The findings are based on an analysis of institutional discourse present in official documents, media content, and interview material. The argument finds synergies with new intergovernmentalist expectations regarding institutional roles in new areas of EU activity as well as with constructivist studies underlining the importance of norms in driving institutional behavior. The main contribution lies in providing an explanation of institutional behavior that takes into account the institutional architecture in the AFSJ as a whole and at various moments in time. Simultaneously, the thesis articulates a framework that contributes to the theorization of EU institutional roles as norm- CEU eTD Collection rooted, fluid, and heterogeneous. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For the past five years of my life, the Central European University (CEU) has been my educational institution, my workplace, and my home. Having been part of the Department (now School) of Public Policy first as an MA and then as a PhD student, I received excellent training in policy studies from a political science perspective. During the PhD program, I got ample opportunity to develop both as a researcher and a teacher in higher education. Moreover, while at CEU, I met fascinating people and made good friends who ensured that I never felt alone— despite living in the capital of a country whose language I did not speak. This PhD thesis is thus the product of my socialization in a colorful institutional environment which has the great merit of creating an infrastructure where high-quality academics and students from all over the world can come together and engage in social science research. Undoubtedly, the completion of this thesis could not have been possible without the guidance of my supervisor Uwe Puetter. Throughout the years, he has done so much to facilitate my professional development that it is difficult to know where to begin the list of things for which I am grateful to him. In the first year of my PhD, he helped me narrow down my thesis topic by asking guiding questions that allowed me to decide on the direction of my project. In the second year, he advised me to already start my fieldwork in Brussels; this proved essential for the timely gathering of my data and making progress with the analysis. Over time, he has read extensive chapters of my work and kindly provided substantive feedback that visibly improved the quality and coherence of my argument. At the same time, he always kept an open CEU eTD Collection door whenever I needed to discuss doubts or challenges posed by my theoretical and empirical chapters. In addition, Uwe gave me the chance to publish an article in a special issue of the Journal of European Integration that he edited; this was a rich experience teaching me the process of academic journal publication as well as the value of collaborative work in producing research output. During the past few months, he showed concern for my future career and iv provided a lot of advice and support on how to proceed after the completion of my PhD. Over the years, I had so much to learn from him about doing research in EU studies, providing thoughtful feedback to peers, and teaching in a way that makes students critically think about questions they had not considered before. I know he does this for all his PhD students, which makes his efforts even more worthy of appreciation. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge the contribution to my thesis of several other professors inside and outside CEU. First, I am thankful to my supervisory panel members, Agnes Batory and Marie-Pierre Granger, who have provided invaluable feedback during the last three years. Many thanks for following closely the evolution of my thesis, reading my chapters, and constantly underlining areas of improvement. I always had a lot of food for thought and a clear idea on what to work on next after every one of our meetings. Second, I am grateful to Sarah Léonard and Christian Kaunert, the organizers of the 2014 Jean Monnet PhD Summer School on the European Union’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, held at the University of Dundee. This event was a turning point in my doctoral studies because it introduced me to the academic community writing on my area of interest while also providing a lot of practical advice on how to complete a PhD in EU studies. Third, I would like to thank Deirdre Curtin for facilitating a visiting fellowship at the European University Institute for me; the three months I spent in Florence have been the most productive period of my PhD. Fourth, I am grateful to Ariadna Ripoll Servent from the University of Bamberg for the comprehensive feedback she gave to a paper I presented at the 2015 UACES annual conference. On a personal note, I am thankful to my friends in the PhD program at CEU, who made CEU eTD Collection the journey an enjoyable and fulfilling ride. With our strong personalities and different research interests, we have been in many ways unlikely friends. However, going through the experience of doing a PhD in political science has brought us together and made us share our ideas, our breakthroughs, and our burdens. In alphabetical order, I would like to thank Anatoly, Andreea, Aron, Bastian, Bruno, Daniela, Emrah, Jelena, Martin, and Sashi. I heard from doctoral students v at other universities that doing a PhD can be a lonely endeavor, but we were lucky to rely on each other’s companionship and emotional support every step of the way. To outsiders, I am sure that our PhD humor can come across as incomprehensible and dry, but to me it was a source of great comfort over the years. My sincere appreciation also goes to my older friends who have tolerated me as I journeyed through the PhD program: Laura and Loredana; Myska, Saloni, and Koen—thank you so much for being there and always offering words of encouragement. Finally, I am deeply indebted to my family for their unconditional support and love. Without the financial sacrifices of my parents, who struggled to send me and my sister to the best primary and secondary schools available in the proximity of our village in southern Romania, I would have never been able to study abroad―let alone to pursue a PhD.