"What’s wrong with the CFSP? The politics of institutional reform"

Smith, Michael E. (1997) "What’s wrong with the CFSP? The politics of institutional reform". In: UNSPECIFIED, Seattle, WA. (Unpublished)

Preview

PDF Download (1946Kb) | Preview

Abstract

Inaugurated with much fanfare in November 1993, the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) has not lived up to most expectations. Although many point to a lack of political will and preoccupation with other problems as reasons for the CFSP’s lackluster performance, there is a high degree of consensus that institutional mechanisms might play a role here. This paper focuses on these institutional problems. The first section stresses the fear of member states that they could be locked into future courses of action based on today’s decision. The greater binding nature of CFSP actions (as compared to its predecessor, European Political Cooperation), the clearer specification of CFSP obligations, the more legitimate involvement of EC actors in the CFSP, and the inclusion of controversial areas in the CFSP (chiefly security and defense policy) contribute to this fear, which leads to tense ideological arguments between and within EC actors about the proper functioning of the CFSP. The second section focuses on bureaucratic politics within EC institutions involved in the CFSP, chiefly the Commission and COREPER. The final section of the paper addresses the question of institutional reform for the CFSP, a major priority of the current Intergovernmental Conference of the European Union. It assesses proposals toward this end now circulating in the EU, and the likely outcome given the negotiating positions of the major actors (states and EC actors) involved.

Actions (login required)