The European Union and Conflict Prevention. What Europeanization?

Abstract

This article presents the main empirical findings of the analysis of the European Union’s activity for conflict prevention in three case studies – Cyprus, Kosovo and Palestine. After having clarified the meaning of conflict ‘resolution’, ‘prevention’ and ‘Europeanization’, it is proposed a classification of the main foreign policy tools at the disposal of the Union to intervene before the escalation of the conflicts, during and after it. Then, the article focuses on the empirical findings of the Europeanization of the conflicts in the case studies, and therefore not only on the instruments used and on the norms promoted, but also on the mechanisms and the conditions that have enabled or not the Union to exert its leverage.

Northern Cyprus as an ‘inner neighbour’: A critical analysis of European Union enlargement in Cyprus

“…Although the promise of financial aid and trade opportunities may affect negotiations about a solution, this does not generally affect ethnopolitical divides. The political actorness of the EU and its geopolitical role and identity are thus challenged by these situations (Baracani, 2016).…”