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Politics of differentiation: enhanced cooperation in the EU and the pathfinder in APEC

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Abstract

A large majority of studies on differentiated integration focus their attention on closer or enhanced cooperation in the EU, neglecting similar developments in other regions, for example, the pathfinder in APEC. In comparing enhanced cooperation in the EU with the pathfinder in APEC, this article aims to discover conditions under which ideas of differentiation can emerge and then be transformed into common policies endorsed by all member states in regional integration. It shall also make clear the reasons why the pathfinder has been applied in APEC while enhanced cooperation has never been used in the EU. It will begin with a detailed categorization of sub-integrations. Then, the author comparatively analyzes the developments of enhanced cooperation in the EU and the pathfinder in APEC, and as a conclusion, evaluates the contribution of this analysis to better understanding of differentiation.

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Notes

  1. ‘Bogor Declaration’ or ‘Bogor’s goals’ refer to the consensus achieved in the APEC Summit in Bogor, Indonesia, in 1994. All leaders agreed to reduce the barriers to trade and investment and to promote ‘the free flow of goods, services and capital’ among all Member States. The construction of such an area of free movement of all but people shall be achieved among those developed member countries before 2010 and among all states no later than 2020 (APEC 1994).

  2. Among the 300 directive proposals aiming to establish the single market, half of them were adopted by the QMV in the Council between 1987 and 1992. After the entry of the Maastricht Treaty into effect, nearly 25% of the legal acts were adopted by QMV in the Council between 1994 and 1998. The Treaty of Nice extends the QMV to 30 articles of the Treaty. See Sherington 2000: 64; Mattila and Lane 2001: 40, table 1, and http://europa.eu.int/comm/igc2000/dialogue/info/offdoc/guidecitoyen_en.pdf, accessed on December 7, 2005.

  3. In APEC jargon, lead country or economy refers to the member country that initiates the proposal and later conducts the policy after the proposal is endorsed.

  4. They are Australia, Brunei, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. APEC 2006.

  5. The following categorization is mainly with reference to Stubb 1996: 283–295.

  6. Interview by the author with an official participating in the CTI of APEC since 1999, Taipei, 21 January 2005.

  7. Interview by the author with an official working at the APEC secretariat between 1994 and 2001, Taipei, 10 January 2005.

  8. The SOM plays the key role inside APEC like that of the COREPER in the EU Council. Reuniting all political directors or deputy ministers of Foreign Offices or Ministries of Trade from all Member States, it regularly reviews all the proposals submitted by different committees and then drafts decisions for the Ministerial Meetings.

  9. Interview by the author with an official participating in the CTI of APEC since 1999, Taipei, 21 January 2005.

  10. Ibid.

  11. Interview by the author with an official working at the APEC secretariat between 1994 and 2001, Taipei, 10 January 2005.

  12. Interview by the author with an official participating in the CTI of APEC since 1999, Taipei, 21 January 2005.

  13. Interview by the author with an official working for the Legal Service of European Commission, Brussels, 24 November 2004.

  14. Interview by the author with an official working at the APEC secretariat between 1994 and 2001, Taipei, 10 January 2005.

  15. Interview by the author with an official in the COREPER, Brussels, 10 November 2004.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of European and American Studies at Academia Sinica, 128, Academia Road, Section 2, 115, Taipei, Taiwan

    Hungdah Su

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Correspondence to Hungdah Su.

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The earlier version of this paper was presented at the EUSA Ninth Biennial International Conference in Austin, Texas, on April 1, 2005.

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Su, H. Politics of differentiation: enhanced cooperation in the EU and the pathfinder in APEC. AEJ 5, 51–66 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-006-0101-3

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