EU external governance in 'wider Europe'

Abstract

The 'wider Europe' initiative opens the possibility for a far-reaching association of the EU's eastern and southern European neighbours which, by offering 'everything but institutions' (Prodi), proposes an alternative to membership. This article presents this initiative as part of an ambitious external governance agenda by the enlarged Union with the aim to manage its new interdependence in an altered geopolitical context. Focusing on the conception of interdependence and the institutional configuration of EU relations with its near abroad, external governance is defined and examined in three prominent 'soft security' issues: justice and home affairs, environmental and energy policy. It is argued that external governance seeks to expand the 'legal boundary' of the Union with only limited openings of its 'institutional boundary', thereby oscillating between an inclusionary and exclusionary approach towards its near abroad.

Hierarchy, networks, or markets: how does the EU shape environmental policy adoptions within and beyond its borders?

“…governance through hierarchy, networks, and markets (see, for example, Knill and Lehmkuhl 2002;Lavenex 2004;Lavenex and Uçarer 2004;Knill and Lenschow 2005;Bauer et al 2007;Lavenex and Schimmelfennig, this issue). These three mechanisms relate the causal relationship between the dependent variable (i.e.…”

Policy Coherence for Development in the European Union: Do New Procedures Unblock or Simply Reproduce Old Disagreements?

“…between the different levels of governance), it must also coordinate the impacts of its policies both inside and outside Europe. Grimm et al (2012, p. 11) refer to this increasing complexity in the EU's coordination challenge as the 'global dimension' while an emerging literature on external governance refers to the 'external dimension' (Lavenex 2004). What ever the terminology, the significance of this new dimension to the EU's coordination challenge should not be underestimated as the pressure on the EU to consider its external impacts and achieve greater PCD is only likely to increase in future as globalisation continues to blur the distinction between internal and external policies.…”

North Africa and the Making of Europe : Governance, Institutions and Culture

“…The literature on 'external governance', i.e. the transfer of EU rules and policies to third countries, often at a level below the threshold of membership (Lavenex, 2004;Lavenex and Schimmelfennig, 2009), observes that the EU is in fact engaged in Europeanization processes as a part of its foreign policy. This body of research has illustrated the way in which the EU exports its laws and regulations to the Neighbourhood, but also how these countries contest and negotiate aspects of European norms, both through formal negotiations and adaptation, and above all through varying application of formally adopted norms (Freyburg et al, 2009;Gänzle, 2009;Youngs, 2009a).…”