La Política Europea de España 2009-10

Aquest working paper és la versió espanyola del capítulo escrit per les autores sobre la política Europea de Espanya per a un anuari alemany sobre construcció europea (W. Weidenfeld i W. Wessels (Hrsg.). Jahrbuchder Europäischen Integration 2009/10, Institut furEuropäische Politik. Europa Union Verlag, en premsa). Esther Barbé escriu aquest capítol per al Jahrbuchregularmente des de l'any 1990.

La Política Europea de España 2008-09

Aquest working paper és la versió espanyola delcapítulo escrit per les autores sobre la política Europeade Espanya per a un anuari alemany sobre construccióneuropea (W. Weidenfeld i W. Wessels (Hrsg.). Jahrbuchder Europäischen Integration 2008/09, Institut furEuropäische Politik. Europa Union Verlag, en premsa). Esther Barbé escriu aquest capítol per al Jahrbuchregularmente des de 1990

España en Europa - Europa en España (1986-2006)

Aquesta publicació té per objectiu oferir un balanç dels primers vint anys des de l'adhesió d'Espanya a l'Europa comunitària en termes de «europeïtzació», una formulació que és objecte de creixent atenció per part dels estudiosos del procés d'integració europea. Per això s'analitzen tant la incidència d'Espanya a la Unió Europea com la d'aquesta en el sistema institucional, els processos polítics i les polítiques públiques espanyoles. El resultat reflecteix el grau creixent de simbiosi que, amb alguns matisos, s'ha anat generant entre ambdós nivells al llarg d'aquests anys.

EU's democracy promotion policy in the Mediterranean: Squaring the stability – democracy circle?

Why does the EU have an ambiguous and inconsistent democracy promotion (DP) policy towards the Mediterranean countries? This paper argues that the EU´s DP is determined by a crucial conflict of interests conceptualised as a stability – democracy dilemma. The EU has been attempting to promote democracy, but without risking the current stability and in connivance with incumbent autocratic regimes. In view of this dilemma, the four main characteristics of the EU´s DP promotion are explored, namely: gradualism, a strong notion of partnership-building, a narrow definition of civil society, and a strong belief in economic liberalisation. A fifth feature, relation of the EU with moderate Islamists, is analysed in the paper as it represents the most striking illustration of its contradictions. The paper concludes by arguing that the definition of a clear DP by the EU that considered engagement with moderate Islamists would represent a major step towards squaring its stability – democracy circle.

La Política europea de España 2007-08

El presente working paper es la versión española del capítulo escrito por las autoras sobre la política europea de España para un anuario alemán sobre construcción europea (W. Weidenfeld y W. Wessels (Hrsg.). Jahrbuch der Europäischen Integration 2007/08, Institut fur Europäische Politik. Europa Union Verlag, en prensa). Esther Barbé escribe dicho capítulo para el Jahrbuch regularmente desde el año 1990.

Estados Unidos y Europa en la posguerra fría. Tres lecturas diferentes de un mismo período histórico

Este texto analiza el trato que se ha dado a la evolución de las relaciones transatlánticas en la literatura especializada en relaciones internacionales a nivel europeo y americano en el período comprendido entre enero de 1990 a diciembre de 2004

The Decision on Turkish EU accession in December 2002: The logic of anarchy, collective action problems and rhetorical action

Studies of the EU accession of the East and Central European Countries have stressed the importance of neo-liberal institutionalism as an explanation for Member State preferences. In this paper it is argued that Member States’ preferences over Turkish EU accession are better explained by power politics and neo-realism. It seems therefore that Turkey’s way to the EU follows another path than the East and Central Countries. Turkish accession raises the question of the EU’s role in a uni-polar world order – whether the EU should develop into an independent actor on the world stage or not. However, when it comes to the interaction among the Member States in order to decide on when to open accession negotiations with Turkey the constitutive values of the EU seriously modify the outcome that pure power politics would have let to.

The New EU’s External Action: A significant step forward towards the EU’s single voice?ction problems and rhetorical action

The aim of this paper is to analyse the main agreements on the EU’s External Action agreed within the European Convention and the IGC taking into account why, how and who reached the consensus on them. In other words, this paper will explore the principles followed in order to improve the instruments of the EU’s External Action such as authority, coherence, visibility, efficiency and credibility.

The Voting Practice of the Fifteen in the UN General Assembly: Convergence and Divergence

The EU has, since the early days of the Community, had the ambition to speak with ‘a single voice’ in international fora, in particular in the United Nations’ General Assembly. This aspiration, which has become more pronounced since the inauguration of the CFSP, has not always been easy to achieve due to domestic or international level factors affecting the EU member states. However, in the last decade there has been a dramatic increase in convergence in the Fifteen’s voting record. This paper contemplates the underlying reasons for such a convergence

Quo vadis OMC? Escenarios post-Cancún y reflexión europea

Este estudio tiene como objetivo plantear lo ocurrido en Cancún a partir de los temas que debían tratarse, comprobar el desencuentro que se produjo en la Conferencia, que no se limitó a uno de los capítulos que debían negociarse, y tras los escenarios de futuro que se crearon valorar el análisis y toma de posición que ha efectuado la Comisión Europea.

Tres comicios y un islote: Europa hacia el Magreb en el año 2002

Presenta un análisis comparado de las reacciones europeas ante las elecciones en el Magreb y ante la crisis del islote de Perejil con el objetivo de entrever el complejo y no siempre coherente proceso de toma de decisiones en el seno de la UE.

The European Union Perception of Cuba: From Frustation to Irritation

On Friday May 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba summoned the newly-appointed charged’affairs of the European Commission in Havana and announced the withdrawal of the application procedure for membership in the Cotonou Agreement of the Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries, and in fact renouncing to benefit from European development aid.1 In a blistering note published in the Granma official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party, the government blamed the EU Commission for exerting undue pressure, its alleged alignment with the policies of the United States, and censure for the measures taken by Cuba during the previous weeks.2 In reality, Cuba avoided an embarrasin flat rejection for its application. This was the anti-climatic ending for a long process that can be traced back to the end of the Cold War, in a context where Cuba has been testing alternative grounds to substitute for the overwhelming protection of the Soviet Union

II Cumbre UE-ALC: un encuentro sin estrategia

El proceso de asociación estratégica birregional entre la Unión Europea y América Latina y el Caribe es un ejemplo claro de un intento de cooperación encuadrado en la óptica del neoliberalismo institucional, tanto en su forma –el establecimiento de un mecanismo de acercamiento entre dos regiones del mundo- como en su contenido, manifiesto en el amplio y variado temario plasmado en los acuerdos del Compromiso de Madrid. Sin embargo, si se abordan los resultados del encuentro desde esta misma óptica encontramos que en la Cumbre se desaprovechó una oportunidad de afianzar las relaciones entre ambas regiones, poniendo en riesgo el soft power que ejerce la UE respecto a ALC, a raíz de la decepción de las administraciones latinoamericanas en función de la satisfacción de sus demandas, que ha sido baja.

The CFSP/ESDP, Parliamentary Accountability, and the ´Future of Europe´ Convention debate

This paper examines the importance that the current Convention on the Future of Europe is giving (or not) to the question of democratic accountability in European foreign and defence policy. As all European Union (EU) member states are parliamentary democracies1, and as there is a European Parliament (EP) which also covers CFSP (Common Foreign and Security Policy) and ESDP (European Security and Defence Policy2) matters, I will concentrate on parliamentary accountability rather than democratic accountability more widely defined. Where appropriate, I will also refer to the work of other transnational parliamentary bodies such as the North Atlantic Assembly or NAA (NATO´s Parliamentary Assembly) or the Western European Union (WEU) Parliamentary Assembly3. The article will consist of three sections. First, I will briefly put the question under study within its wider context (section 1). Then, I will examine the current level of parliamentary accountability in CFSP and defence matters (section 2). Finally, I will consider the current Convention debate and assess how much attention is being given to the question of accountability in foreign and defence policies (section 3). This study basically argues that, once again, there is very little interest in an issue that should be considered as vital for the future democratic development of a European foreign and defence policy. It is important to note however that this paper does not cover the wider debate about how to democratise and make the EU more transparent and closer to its citizens. It concentrates on its Second Pillar because its claim is that very little if any attention is being given to this question

La Brecha entre EEUU y la “Vieja Europa”

El distanciamiento que hoy observamos entre las actitudes de los Estados Unidos (EEUU) y Francia frente a temas como el uso de la fuerza y el derecho internacional, tiene un punto álgido en el debate que giró en torno a la redacción y aprobación de la Resolución 1441 del Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas (CSNU) sobre Irak. A la luz de esta brecha entre los EEUU y la Francia consideramos conveniente revisar este proceso a través de los instrumentos analíticos ofrecidos por dos aproximaciones teóricas en Relaciones Internacionales: el neorrealismo y en el neoliberalismo. Los objetivos de este trabajo son: (1) Exponer los hechos que definieron una y otra posición así como el contenido final de dicha resolución, (2) analizarlos desde la perspectiva teórica del neo-realismo y; (3) del neo-liberalismo