"Gender considerations and civil society are both major issues in the current debate about the implementation of EU development policy. This volume provides a new perspective and focus on the increasingly important issues of gender equality, democracy and participation to explain how they impact on policy. This book will appeal to those interested in the European Union, in EU external relations, gender issues, civil society, and development."--Provided by publisher.
Foreword / Christopher Hill -- Introduction : Understanding Italy's role on the world stage / Maurizio Carbone -- Italian foreign policy in the Cold War : a constant search for status / Leopoldo Nuti -- Italian politics after the end of the Cold War : the continuation of a two-level game / James L. Newell -- Italy as a foreign policy actor : the interplay of domestic and international factors / James Walston -- Italy as a security actor : new resolve and old inadequacies / Osvaldo Croci, Paolo Foradori, and Paolo Rosa -- Italy as a development actor : a tale of bipartisan failure / Maurizio Carbone -- Italy as a multilateral actor : the inescapable destiny of a middle power / Luca Ratti -- Italy and the US : prestige, peace and the transatlantic balance / Jason W. Davidson -- Italy and the EU : seeking visibility, fearing exclusion / Maurizio Carbone and Valter Coralluzzo -- Italy in the Mediterranean : between Atlanticism and Europeanism / Maurizio Carbone ... [et al.] -- Italy in the Balkans : an emerging actor in its neighborhood / Roberto Belloni -- Italy in Latin America and South Asia : struggling to become more visible / Ernesto Gallo -- Conclusion : After the Cold War, a world of opportunity and greater responsibility for Italy too / Vittorio Emanuele Parsi
The European Union is a leading actor in international development, providing more than half of the world's foreign aid, but also a unique case, combining the characteristics of a bilateral and a multilateral donor. Despite the general acknowledgment that policy coordination substantially improves both the effectiveness of foreign aid and the visibility of the EU in the international arena, Member States have consistently resisted any intrusion into what they consider a key area of their national sovereignty. The increases in volume of aid, the ambitious agenda on aid effectiveness, and the adoption of the European Consensus on Development indicate a change of direction.Using development policy as a starting point, this book provides a systematic analysis of the interaction between the European Commission and Member States. It explores the conditions in which the European Commission influences outcomes in the EU decision making process. It ultimately argues that the European Commission plays a leadership role, but this leadership is contingent upon the presence of an institutional entrepreneur, its internal cohesiveness, and the astute use of a repertoire of tactics.Demonstrating that development policy may provide fresh insights into EU integration theory, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of European Politics and International Development.
Cover; Copyright; Contents; Tables; Contributors; Foreword; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction: understanding the domestic politics of treaty reform; 2. The EU reform process: from the European Constitution to the Lisbon Treaty; 3. France: from rejection to return?; 4. Germany: from launching the constitutional debate to salvaging a treaty; 5. United Kingdom: red lines defended; 6. Italy: the importance of party politics in treaty negotiations; 7. Poland: domestic discord makes for a problematic partner; 8. Ireland: more referendums anyone?; 9. The Benelux countries: how politicization upset a pro-integration coalition10. Spain and Portugal: continuity and consensus in Iberia; 11. The Nordic countries: between scepticism and adaptation; 12. Czech Republic and Slovakia: party politics and the travails of ratification; 13. Conclusion: preference formation, inter-state bargaining and the Treaty of Lisbon; Index
"Using development policy as a starting point, this book provides a systematic analysis of the interaction between the European Commission and Member States. It explores the conditions in which the European Commission influences outcomes in the EU decision making process. It ultimately argues that the European Commission plays a leadership role, but this leadership is contingent upon the presence of an institutional entrepreneur, its internal cohesiveness, and the astute use of a repertoire of tactics." "Demonstrating that development policy may provide fresh insights into EU integration theory, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of European Politics and International Development."--Jacket
AbstractThis article, drawing on Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) and embracing the decentring agenda in European Union (EU) external relations, discusses the substance of human rights promotion in the negotiations of the Samoa Agreement. It documents how the EU has concentrated on civil and political rights, whereas Africa has advanced an innovative approach to economic, social and cultural rights underpinned by the right to development. More importantly, going beyond the 'heaven–hell binary', which draws neat lines between the good North and the bad South, and the 'one‐way traffic paradigm', which claims that human rights flow from the North to the South, it shows that the human rights corpus may be slowly evolving from its paradigmatic western orientation towards a truly universal project: the EU and Africa have started recognising each other as being holders of diverse yet legitimate perspectives on human rights.
This article examines the rationales of the European Union (EU) and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) in the preparations and negotiations of the successor to the Cotonou Agreement, paying particular attention to contested issues. It argues that the EU-OACPS Agreement constitutes a fundamental break from past practices, at least apparently: with regards to form, it introduces an unprecedented framework for cooperation, articulated in a common base with three distinct regional pillars; in terms of substance, it proposes a list of equally important strategic priorities, thus going beyond the previous focus on development. Furthermore, unlike its predecessor but like many other agreements signed by the EU with third states, it sets out a comprehensive political partnership for mutually beneficial outcomes. This article, importantly, unravels sources of tensions between and within the two sides. It also shows that negotiations were more symmetrical than in previous instances, not least because contentious issues such as aid volumes and trade cooperation fall outside the remit of the EUOACPS Agreement, and less participatory, as they were largely conducted by a small number of official representatives, with limited involvement of other stakeholders. EU-OACPS Agreement, Cotonou Agreement, post-Cotonou, ACP Group, African Union, EU development policy
This article argues that the European Union (EU) can make a difference in multilateral negotiations, yet its external impact is likely to be more significant not when it has a high internal capability, and the systemic context is favourable, but rather when a policy entrepreneur (be it the European Commission alone or in concert with some member states) acts purposefully to push the EU's common position forward. To reach this conclusion, it traces the trajectory of the aid effectiveness norm through a series of high-level forums held in the 2000s and early 2010s. The illusion that the EU could shape global discourse and affect decisions in international settings did not last long, as its attempts to enhance the quality of aid were replaced in the mid-2010s by a stronger emphasis on the promotion of its economic and political interest.
