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Turning Points and Shifting Understandings of European Security: The European Neighbourhood Policy’s Development

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Managing Security Threats along the EU’s Eastern Flanks

Part of the book series: New Security Challenges ((NSECH))

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Abstract

The chapter aims at contributing to the conceptualisation of the EU’s security role and of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) as a regional security policy. We argue that there have been shifts in the EU’s approach towards regional security in the framework of the ENP and that a clear trend towards a more systematic combination of structural and hard security elements is visible, reflecting both new EU institutional capabilities and a propitious international environment, demanding integrated and comprehensive approaches to security. We argue that the EU’s security actorness in the neighbourhood has benefited from this developing comprehensive approach, ingraining a mix of normative and geopolitical aspects reflected in the EU’s self-perception and its international image.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Lisbon Treaty, ‘Treaty of Lisbon, Amending the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European community’, Official Journal of the European Union, 2007/C 306/01, 17 December 2007.

  2. 2.

    The ENP is a far-reaching policy in terms of sectorial areas, with a strong economic and trade dimension complemented by policies directed at political reforms, security issues, educational and cultural spheres, among other.

  3. 3.

    European Commission and EEAS, ‘The EU’s Comprehensive Approach to External Conflict and Crisis’ (Brussels: EU, 2013).

  4. 4.

    Eli Stamnes, ‘The European Union and Peacebuilding’, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Policy Brief Series, 3 March 2016.

  5. 5.

    Charlotte Bretherton and John Vogler, The European Union as a Global Actor, 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2006, p. 24.

  6. 6.

    Several authors have addressed the EU’s actorness in the field of security. Attention has been paid to the evolving role European integration has played in European security in the post–Cold War context. See Steve Marsh and Wyn Rees, The European Union in the Security of Europe: From Cold War to Terror War. Oxon: Routledge, 2012. Particular attention has been paid to the security goals EU leaders attributed to enlargement, as well as to the Union’s increasingly securitized border management and engagement in counterterrorism. See Atsuko Higashino, ‘For the Sake of “Peace and Security”? The Role of Security in the European Union Enlargement Eastwards’, Cooperation and Conflict (Vol. 39, no. 4, 2004), pp. 347–368. Christian Kaunert, ‘Europol and EU Counterterrorism: International Security Actorness in the External Dimension’, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (Vol. 33, no. 7, 2010), pp. 652–671.

  7. 7.

    Karl Deutsch et al., Political Community and the North Atlantic Area. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1957. Ole Waever, ‘Insecurity, security, and asecurity in the West European non-war community’, in Emmanuel Adler and Michael Barnett (eds) Security Communities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp. 69–118.

  8. 8.

    Copenhagen European Council, Conclusions of the Presidency, 21–22 June 1993, SN 180/1/93 REV 1.

  9. 9.

    European Security Strategy, ‘A Secure Europe in a Better World’, Brussels, 12 December 2003, p. 1.

  10. 10.

    J. Peter Burgess, ‘There is No European Security, Only European Securities’, Cooperation and Conflict (Vol. 44, no. 3, 2009), p. 315.

  11. 11.

    Michael Merlingen and Rasa Ostrauskaite (eds) European Security and Defence Policy: An Implementation Perspective. Oxon: Routledge, 2008.

  12. 12.

    The countries part of the ENP are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine from the post-Soviet space, and nine Mediterranean countries plus one (the Palestinian Authority), which include Algiers, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia.

  13. 13.

    See Communication from the Commission, ‘Wider Europe Neighbourhood. A New Framework for Relations with our Eastern and Southern Neighbours’, COM (2003) 104, Brussels, March 2003.

  14. 14.

    Communication from the Commission, ‘Paving the Way for a New Neighbourhood Instrument’, COM (2003) 393, Brussels, July 2003.

  15. 15.

    The Action Plans are non-legally binding documents, country-specific, and follow a number of agreed benchmarks. These were negotiated on the bases of already existing agreements between the Union and these countries, specifically Partnership and Cooperation Agreements or Association Agreements.

  16. 16.

    Communication from the Commission, ‘Wider Europe Neighbourhood. A New Framework for Relations with our Eastern and Southern Neighbours’, COM (2003) 104, Brussels, March 2003, p. 4.

  17. 17.

    Maria Raquel Freire, ‘Challenges and opportunities at the EU’s vicinity: assessing policies and practices’, in Teresa Cierco Gomes (ed.), The European Union and Its Immediate Neighbourhood (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2013).

  18. 18.

    Derek Averre, ‘Competing rationalities: Russia, the EU and the “Shared Neighbourhood”’, Europe-Asia Studies 61: 10 (2009), pp. 1689–1713.

  19. 19.

    Licínia Simão and Vanda Amaro Dias, ‘The securitization of the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood: What role for Russia?’, in Remi Piet and Licínia Simão (eds), Security in Shared Neighbourhoods - Foreign Policy of Russia Turkey, and the EU (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).

  20. 20.

    Interviews conducted by the authors with the de facto leaders of Abkhazia, Sukhum/i, November 2013.

  21. 21.

    Licínia Simão, The EU’s Neighbourhood Policy towards the South Caucasus: Expanding the European Security Community (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

  22. 22.

    The EaP covers the six former Soviet countries, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

  23. 23.

    Council of the European Union, Joint Declaration of the Prague Eastern Partnership Summit. 8435/09 (Presse 78), Brussels/Prague, 7 May 2009.

  24. 24.

    Maria Raquel Freire and Licínia Simão, ‘The EU’s Security Actorness: The case of EUMM in Georgia’, European Security 22: 4 (2013), pp. 464–477.

  25. 25.

    RFE/RL . The View from Europe. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 27 August 2008. http://www.rferl.org/content/The_View_From_Europe/1194356.

  26. 26.

    Licínia Simão and Vanda Amaro Dias, ‘The securitization of the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood: What role for Russia?’, in Remi Piet and Licínia Simão (eds.), Security in Shared Neighbourhoods – Foreign Policy of Russia Turkey, and the EU. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, p. 114.

  27. 27.

    European Commission. Review of EU–Russia Relations. Communication from the Commission to the Council, COM (2008) 740 final, Brussels, 5 November 2008, p. 2.

  28. 28.

    Ibid.

  29. 29.

    European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. A new response to a changing Neighbourhood. Joint communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. COM(2011) 303 final, Brussels, 25.5.2011, p. 1 (emphasis added).

  30. 30.

    Ibid., p. 3.

  31. 31.

    Ibid., p. 3.

  32. 32.

    Elena Korosteleva, ‘The Eastern Partnership Initiative: A New Opportunity for Neighbours?’, Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics 27: 1 (2011), p. 11.

  33. 33.

    Vladimir Putin, ‘Address by President of the Russian Federation to State Duma deputies, Federation Council members, heads of Russian regions and civil society representatives in the Kremlin’, Moscow. 18 March 2014.

  34. 34.

    Maria Raquel Freire, ‘Ukraine and the Restructuring of East-West Relations’, in Roger E. Kanet (ed.), The Russian Challenge to the European Security Environment. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.

  35. 35.

    The Guardian, ‘Crimea votes to secede from Ukraine in “illegal” poll’, 16 March 2014.

  36. 36.

    Vladimir Putin, ‘“We did What We had to DO” Putin OPENS Up On Crimea Reunification PLAN’, Interview with RT, 10 March 2015, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_hN24Ceing.

  37. 37.

    Vladimir Putin, ‘Address by President of the Russian Federation to State Duma deputies, Federation Council members, heads of Russian regions and civil society representatives in the Kremlin’, Moscow, 18 March 2014.

  38. 38.

    The Telegraph, ‘Minsk agreement on Ukraine crisis: text in full’, 5 October 2017.

  39. 39.

    European Union Global Strategy, Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe. A Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy, Brussels, June 2016, p. 8.

  40. 40.

    European Council European Council conclusions, doc.34/16, Brussels, 15 December 2016; Steven Blackmans, The 2016 “Winter Package” on European Security and Defence: Constitutional, Legal and Institutional Implications. Report for the European Parliament Directorate General for Internal Policies, Policy Department C: Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs. PE 571.405. Brussels. 16 December.

  41. 41.

    Roland Dannreuther, ‘Developing the Alternative to Enlargement: The European Neighbourhood Policy’, European Foreign Affairs Review No. 2 (2006), pp. 183–201.

  42. 42.

    European Union Global Strategy, ‘Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe. A Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy’, Brussels, June 2016, p. 9.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge funding for research from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN-ETN) of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under grant agreement ‘CASPIAN—Around the Caspian: A Doctoral Training for Future Experts in Development and Cooperation with Focus on the Caspian Region’ (642709—CASPIAN—H2020-MSCA-ITN-2014).

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  1. Faculty of Economics and Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Maria Raquel Freire & Licínia Simão

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  1. Maria Raquel Freire
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Correspondence to Maria Raquel Freire .

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  1. School of International Relations, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK

    Rick Fawn

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Freire, M.R., Simão, L. (2020). Turning Points and Shifting Understandings of European Security: The European Neighbourhood Policy’s Development. In: Fawn, R. (eds) Managing Security Threats along the EU’s Eastern Flanks . New Security Challenges. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26937-1_2

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