LIMITATIONS OF THE EU’S “TRANSFORMATIVE POWER” IN THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29038/2524-2679-2021-03-16-38Keywords:
Eastern Partnership, “transformative power”, “normative power”, eastern neighbours, transformationAbstract
The paper analyzes the initiative of the Eastern Partnership of the EU through the prism of constructivist concepts of the “normative power” and “transformative power”. The content, mechanisms and results of the implementation of the Eastern Partnership in terms of the effectiveness of the “transformative power” of the EU are analyzed. Institutional and geopolitical constraints and challenges that complicate the implementation of the EU normative influence in the Eastern Partnership countries are studied.
It is reasoned that the EU’s influence in partner countries is based on a complex combination of its economic attractiveness, interdependence, the promotion of international norms and the assurance of closer integration, attractive to some of its eastern neighbors (Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine). Nevertheless, Eastern Partnership founders did not take into account the limitations of the EU’s “transformative power” without the prospect of membership, significant internal obstacles to reforms in partner countries, and geopolitical situation in the region, including Russian influence. The EU’s incompetence to offer strong incentives to deliver real democratic reforms in partner countries, as well as the lack of effective geopolitical levers to counter Russia’s presence in the region, have significantly destabilized the EU’s approach. The tendency to geopoliticize the Eastern Partnership, which can be traced back to the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, is inevitable. However, it is premature to claim that it reduces the level of transformative ambitions of the EU in the region, which would lead to irreparable damage not only to its Eastern policy, but also to its overall subjectivity in the international arena. For Ukraine (as well as probably for Georgia and Moldova) to become part of a united Europe, the EU must not lose its normative influence and economic gravity, though it must also proceed from the realization of its existence as a geopolitical power capable of active diplomacy and effective use of the levers of political influence.
References
Middelaar, L. Vann. (2021). Nova polityka Yevropy: desiat rokiv politychnykh kryz?. Kyiv: DUKh i LITERA.
Grabbe, H. (2004). The Constellations of Europe: How Enlargement Will Transform the EU. London: Center for European Reform.
Borzel, T. A., Risse, T. (2009). The Transformative Power of Europe: The European Union and the Diffusion of Ideas, KFG Working Paper, 1. URL: http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/kfgeu/kfgwp/wpseries/WorkingPaperKFG_1.pdf.
Lavenex, S., Schimmelfennig, F. (2009). EU Rules beyond EU Borders: Theorizing External Governance in European Politics. Journal of European Public Policy, 16(6), 791-812.
Vakhudova, M.-A. (2009). Nerozdilena Yevropa: demokratiia, vazheli vplyvu ta intehratsiia pislia komunizmu. Kyiv : Vyd. dim «Kyievo-Mohylianska akademiia».
Dimitrova, A. L., Dragneva, R. (2009). Constraining External Governance: Interdependence with Russia and the CIS as Limits to the EU’s Rule Transfer in the Ukraine. Journal of European Public Policy, 16(6), 853-872.
Valiyeva, K. (2016). The EU’s Eastern Partnership: normative or geopolitical power projection?. Eastern Journal of European Studies, 7(2), 11-29.
Crombois, J. (2019). The Eastern Partnership: Geopolitics and policy inertia. European View, 18(1), 89–96.
Dimitrova, A., Boroda, M., Chulitskaya, T. and others. (2016). Soft, Normative or Transformative Power: What Do the EU’s Communications with Eastern Partners Reveal About its Influence? URL: https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e5b53b9d8f&appId=PPGMS
Manners, I. (2008). The Normative Power of the European Union in a Globalised World. European Union Foreign Policy in a Globalised World: Normative Power and Social Preferences, London: Routledge, 23–37.
Nye, J. S. (1990). Soft Power. Foreign Policy, 153-171.
Manners, I. (2002). Normative Power Europe: A Contradiction in Terms?. Journal of Common Market Studies. № 40, 235–258.
Dimitrova, A. L., Pridham, G. (2005). International Actors and Democracy Promotion in Central and Eastern Europe: The Integration Model and its Limits. Democratization, 11(5), 91-112.
Chaban, N., Knodt, M., Verdun, A. (2016). “Talking with” not “Talking at”? Perceptions of the EU as a Global Normative Energy Actor in the Eyes of BRICS and EU “Big 3”. Comparative European Politics. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304185530_'Talking_with'_not_'talking_at'_Perceptions_of_the_EU_as_a_global_normative_energy_actor_in_the_eyes_of_BRICS_and_EU_'Big_3'
Borzel, T. A., Ademmer, E. (2013). Migration, Energy and Good Governance in the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood. Europe-Asia Studies, 65(4), 581-607.
Dempsey, J. (2013). The transformative power of EU enlargement: An interview with Štefan Fule. Carnegie Europe, Judy Dempsey’s Strategic Europe. URL: http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=53742.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council «Eastern Partnership». European Commission. URL: http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/eastern.docs/com08_823_en.pdf
Wilson, А. Partners for Life: Europe’s Unanswered «Eastern Question». URL: http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/partners_for_life_europes_unanswered_eastern_question_7232
A New Response to a Changing Neighbourhood. Joint Communication by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission. Brussels, 25 May 2011. URL: http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/com_11_303_en.pdf
Review of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Brussels, 18.11.2015. URL: http://eeas.europa.eu/enp/documents/2015/151118_joint-communication_review-of-the-enp_en.pdf
Nations in Transit. Comparative and Historical Data Files. All Data - Nations in Transit, 2005-2020. URL: https://freedomhouse.org/report/nations-transit
Shapovalova, N., Youngs, R. (2012). EU democracy promotion in the Eastern neighbourhood: A turn to civil society? Fride Working Paper 115. December. URL: https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/156623/WP_115_EU_democracy_promotion_in_the_Eastern_neighbourhood.pdf.
Delcour, B., Wolczuk, K. (2013). Approximation of the national legislation of Eastern
Partnership countries with EU legislation in the economic field. URL: https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/9f7f8320–7b02–4568-a50d-d90c239b385f.
Sydoruk, T., Tyshchenko, D. (2018). A review of the Eastern Partnership after ten years: the need to reconsider its efficacy. Romanian Political Science Review. XVIII(2), 213-240.
Eastern Partnership in a Changed Security Environment: New Incentives for Reform: Study (2014). / L. Kasčiūnas, V. Ivanauskas, V. Keršanskas, L. Kojala. Vilnius, November.
Schimmelfennig, F., Scholtz, H. (2007). EU Democracy Promotion in the European Neighbourhood: Conditionality, Economic Development, and Linkage. Paper for EUSA Biennial Conference. Montreal.
Kobzova J., Easing the EU’s Eastern Partnership fatigue. URL: http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_easing_the_eus_eastern_partnership_fatigue
Youngs, R., Pishchikova, K. (2013). Smart geostrategy for the Eastern Partnership. URL: http://carnegieeurope.eu/publications/?fa=53571
Mearsheimer John J. Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault? URL: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141769/john–j–mearsheimer/why–the–ukraine–crisis–is–the–wests–fault
