The European Neighbourhood Policy

Democracy Outside or Security Within the EU? Narrative and Practice in the European Neighbourhood Policy

Abstract

The end of the Cold War brought a new dynamic for the EU: it had to balance its development strategies regarding Democracy and Good Governance – especially regarding the CEE countries seeking membership – with the new security risks that had arisen as a result of Globalization – such as terrorism, transnational organized crime and migrations. The European Neighbourhood Policy encapsulate these two different dimensions within one policy. Built on three pillars – Democracy, Human Rights and Good Governance, Economic Policy and JHA policy – the ENP was presented by the EU as a Europeanization strategy. However, a tension – or asymmetry – exists between the Narrative promoted by the Commission – that the ENP fosters Democratization and Good Governance – and EU practice within the ENP – much more centred in JHA policy and regional stability. This paper is informed by – and seeks to contribute to – approaches anchored on Social Constructivism and Discourse and Narrative Analysis, which is considered central in the study of EU Foreign Policy. As such, I seek to answer the question “What are the reasons for the asymmetry between the Narrative and the Practice within the EU?”. Building on the relevant bibliography and on the analysis of the Action Plans, we will construct two hypotheses for explaining the asymmetry: either the deficiencies of the ENP and of the EU Foreign Policy architecture skewers the ENP towards JHA and Economic questions – in detriment of the normative objectives present in the Narrative –; or the Narrative and Practice have differing objectives and work symbiotically in order to pursue them – which means the asymmetry is natural and expectable. This paper seeks to contribute to both the debate regarding the ENP – and to the wider debate of the International Actorness of the EU – as well as the debate on Discourses and Narratives in International Relations in general, and in EU Foreign Policy studies in particular.