The European Union in the OSCE in the Light of the Ukrainian Crisis: Trading Actorness for Effectiveness? EU Diplomacy Paper 03/2016

Šimáková, Michaela Anna (2016) The European Union in the OSCE in the Light of the Ukrainian Crisis: Trading Actorness for Effectiveness? EU Diplomacy Paper 03/2016. [Working Paper]

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Abstract

The ‘conflict in and around Ukraine’ has since its outburst in 2013-14 been one of the major challenges for the European Union (EU) and its foreign policy. While the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has experienced revival and played a key role in the management of the crisis, the EU has stayed mostly aside, being considered as part of the problem rather than the solution. This understanding stems from the collision between Ukraine’s European aspirations and Russia’s ‘core interests’ in the post-Soviet space. As the OSCE took the ownership over the crisis response, one of the important interfaces of the EU’s indirect involvement has been its representation in the OSCE. From this perspective, the main analytical question that this paper addresses is how efficient the EU has been as an actor in advancing its goals related to the conflict through and within the OSCE. This paper thus aims to shed light on the relation between EU actorness and effectiveness in a crisis context. It argues that stronger actorness does not necessarily generate more EU effectiveness, or ability to influence outcomes, in the specific setting of a crisis and taking into account the external opportunity structure. The paper finds that in the case of Ukraine and the OSCE greater flexibility in the division of labour between the EU and its member states in external representation enabled a greater effectiveness in crisis response through the OSCE platform. By being pragmatic about its external representation, the EU has successfully ‘traded its actorness for effectiveness’ in the Ukrainian crisis context.

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