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The Europeanisation of Foreign Aid Policy

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The Europeanisation of Foreign Aid Policy Oms_07203_PTHenriksson_C_A3.pdf Peteris Timofejevs Henriksson Timofejevs Peteris Kön och ansvar i sjukförsäkringen En studie av utredningstexter 1944 - 2006 The Europeanisation of Foreign Aid Policy of Foreign The Europeanisation Eva-Lotta Andersson The Europeanisation of Foreign Aid Policy Slovenia and Latvia 1998–2010 Peteris Timofejevs Henriksson Umeå University 2013 Umeå University Department of Political Science Umeå University Research report 2013:5 Department of Political Science SE-901 87 Umeå ISSN 0349-0831 Umeå University, 2013 www.pol.umu.se ISBN 978-91-7459-716-5 The Europeanisation of Foreign Aid Policy Slovenia and Latvia 1998-2010 Peteris Timofejevs Henriksson Department of Political Science Umeå 2013 This work is protected by the Swedish Copyright Legislation (Act 1960:729) Copyright©Peteris Timofejevs Henriksson ISBN: 978-91-7459-716-5 ISSN: 0349-0831 Department of Political Science, Research Report 2013:5 Electronic version available at http://umu.diva-portal.org/ Printed by Print & Media, Umeå University Umeå, Sverige 2013 Dedicated to the memory of Elena Robe, née Krikis (1924-2011) Table of Contents Table of Contents i Abstract v List of Abbreviations vii Preface and acknowledgements ix Chapter One: Introduction 1 Introduction 1 Aim and research questions 2 Empirical and theoretical background for the study 4 Methodological approach 6 Outline of the study 8 Chapter Two: Theoretical framework: Europeanisation of policy 9 Introduction 9 Choice of the theoretical perspective 10 Europeanisation: EU adaptational pressures and domestic response 12 EU adaptational pressure 14 Domestic response 15 Introduction to the Europeanisation East literature 17 Rationalist and Constructivist theories of Europeanisation 19 Rationalism – external incentives and adjustment costs 21 Constructivism – persuasion and socialisation 23 Summary 25 Domestic factors (causal mechanisms) 26 Credible conditionality 27 Veto players and adjustment costs 29 Conceptualization of veto players in this project 30 Role of veto players in Europeanisation East 33 Identification and social influence 34 Policy resonance 36 Norm entrepreneurs 38 Summary 41 Review of the existing literature on foreign aid policies in the CEECs 42 Chapter Three: Method, operationalisation, and sources 47 Methodological approach 47 Research design and case selection 49 Why study foreign aid policy? 49 Specifying the population 51 Selecting cases – theoretical, methodological and empirical reasons 54 Why process tracing? 61 Summary 63 Operationalisation 63 i EU adaptational pressures 64 Domestic response 66 Causal mechanisms 68 Sources 74 Documents 76 Interviews 77 Reflexivity: some reflections on working with the sources 81 Chapter Four: The EU adaptational pressure 84 Introduction 84 The EU adaptational pressures before the accession 84 Acquis and pre-accession monitoring 85 Slovenia 89 Latvia 92 Summary 95 The EU adaptational pressures after the accession 99 The Monterrey process and the EU commitments in financing for development100 Slovenia 105 Latvia 110 Summary 113 Intermediate conclusions 114 Chapter Five: Domestic Response: Pre-accession period (1997-2004) 117 Introduction 117 Domestic response in Slovenia 117 Evolution of Slovenia’s foreign aid policy (1997-2004) 117 Evolution of foreign aid implementing agencies in Slovenia 121 ITF 122 CEF 123 “Together” 125 Summary 126 Explanatory factors 126 Credible conditionality 127 Veto players and adjustment costs 130 Identification and social influence 131 Policy resonance 140 Norm entrepreneurs 144 Domestic response in Latvia 146 Evolution of Latvia’s foreign aid policy (1997-2004) 146 Explanatory factors 151 Credible conditionality 151 Veto players and adjustment costs 155 Identification and social influence 157 Policy resonance 161 Norm entrepreneurs 163 ii Intermediate conclusions 166 Chapter Six: Domestic Response: Post-accession Period (2004-2010) 170 Introduction 170 Domestic response in Slovenia 170 Evolution of Slovenia’s foreign aid policy (2004-2010) 170 Evolution of foreign aid implementing agencies in Slovenia 178 CEP 179 CICD 180 Summary 181 Explanatory factors 182 Veto players and adjustment costs 182 Identification and social influence 188 Policy resonance 193 Norm entrepreneurs 198 Domestic response in Latvia 201 Explanatory factors 210 Veto players and adjustment costs 210 Identification and social influence 217 Policy resonance 221 Norm entrepreneurs 226 Intermediate conclusions 229 Chapter Seven: Conclusions 237 Introduction 237 Comparison of the foreign-aid policy adoption in Slovenia and Latvia 237 Explanatory factors 240 Credible conditionality 242 Veto players and adjustment costs 243 Identification and social influence 244 Policy resonance 245 Norm entrepreneurs 246 Summary: Which factors were the most important? 247 Answering the research questions 249 Europeanisation of foreign aid policy in the CEECs? 254 Mixing Constructivism with Rationalism – a fruitful approach? 257 Further research 259 References 262 Interviews in Latvia 262 Interviews in Slovenia 263 Bibliography 264 Appendix 299 Appendix 1 299 iii iv Abstract In the early 2000s when several Central and East European countries (CEECs) negotiated their accession to the European Union (EU), they introduced foreign aid policy despite most of them being aid recipient countries at the time. This thesis seeks to explain the evolution of foreign aid policy in two Central and Eastern European countries that took divergent paths in adopting the policy, Slovenia and Latvia. While Slovenia evolved into a relatively active donor country among the CEECs, Latvia’s aid policy developed relatively slowly and aid allocations were smaller. The thesis approaches this subject from the perspective of the ‘Europeanisation East’ literature that seeks to explain policy adoption in the CEECs in terms of EU influence. The literature is divided on how to explain the policy adoption processes in the CEECs. Rationalists, on the one hand, stress the role played by external incentives, in particular the conditions the EU imposed on the CEECs for them to be admitted to the EU, known as EU conditionality. Rationalists also note the role of domestic veto players who can delay or even stop adoption of the policy if it incurs high adoption costs upon them. Constructivists, on the other hand, explain policy adoption in terms of identification and social influence, policy resonance, or the presence of influential norm entrepreneurs. In an important study, Schimmelfennig and Sedelmeier (2005) concluded that most of the policy adoption processes can be explained by the overwhelming influence of EU conditionality, thus downplaying constructivist explanations. This thesis examines whether their finding can be applied to the adoption of foreign aid policy in the pre- accession period (1998-2004). It focuses on the role of EU as well as domestic factors in the policy adoption processes. It then explores what factors account for further developments in the policy adoption processes in the period after the CEECs acceded to the EU (2004-2010). The empirical basis of this study consists of a series of interviews with policy makers and civil society representatives in the two countries. The findings in these interviews have been checked against and triangulated with an encompassing examination of policy documents and archival material. The main findings about the pre-accession period indicate that EU conditionality indeed played an important role in foreign aid policy adoption, but so did identification and social influence. Hence policy adoption costs and the efforts of veto players could not delay policy adoption. In the post-accession period, it is argued here, the further policy adoption processes can largely be explained by identification and social influence. Nevertheless, veto players and adoption costs, as well as policy resonance, did emerge as constraining factors in the policy processes. All in all, the thesis argues that the policy adoption processes can be explained best v by a combination of both Constructivist and Rationalist theories and that role of domestic factors should not be neglected in research into EU influence on the new member states. Keywords: Europeanisation; foreign aid policy; Rationalism; Constructivism; conditionality; identification and social influence; Central and East European countries; Latvia; Slovenia. vi List of Abbreviations ACTED Agency for Technical Co-operation and Development ADA Austrian Development Agency ACP countries African, Caribbean and Pacific countries CEECs Central and Eastern European countries CEF Centre of Excellence in Finance CEP Centre for European Perspective CICD Centre for International Co-operation and Development CIDA Canadian International Development Agency CoDev (or CODEV) Working Party on Development Co-operation, at the Council of the EU Commission European Commission CONCORD European NGDO Confederation for Relief and Development Council Council of the EU EaP Eastern Partnership EC European Commission (the abbreviation is used only in the references in the text) EDF European Development Fund ENP European Neighbourhood Policy EU European Union EU Presidency Presidency of the Council of the EU EU8 (or EU-8) The eight new EU member states from Central and Eastern Europe that acceded to the EU in 2004 EU10 (or EU-10) The ten new EU member states that acceeded to the EU in 2004 EU15 (or EU-15) The fifteen old EU member states that acceeded to the EU before 2004 EUR Euro GAERC General Affairs and External Relations
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