La politique européenne de voisinage, un complexe de sécurité à géométrie variable

Le projet à l’œuvre dans la politique européenne de voisinage ne se situe pas dans la direction où l’on songerait spontanément à le localiser. Sans doute la volonté de créer un cercle d’amis est-elle importante. Mais il y a en creux d’autres logiques, plus diffuses, que seule une lecture serrée des textes permet de débusquer. En sus de la prospérité, nous tenterons de montrer que la « frontiérisation » et la quête de la différence sont les points géométriques privilégiés de la politique européenne de voisinage. Cette dynamique nous conduira à soutenir que les leviers de la politique européenne de voisinage, la socialisation et la conditionnalité, parce qu’ils suscitent des attentes diverses chez les partenaires, conduisent inexorablement l’Union européenne à instituer un complexe de sécurité à géométrie variable.The project underlying the European Neighbourhood Policy is not located where one would expect it to be. The will to create a circle of close friends may have played a significant role. However, there are other more diffuse logics at play that can only be uncovered through the close reading of the official texts. We will try to show that in addition to prosperity, the cardinal points orienting the ENP are to be found in the practice of “bordering” and the quest for difference. These dynamics will here allow highlighting that the levers of the ENP, i.e. socialisation and conditionality, because they bring different expectations together, inexorably lead the European Union to establish a security complex based on the principle of variable geometry

Editorial. Construire le voisin. Pratiques européennes

La politique européenne de voisinage (PEV) est un dispositif intégré, particulièrement ambitieux, de politique étrangère. Son but principal est de s’assurer que les frontières externes de l’Union européenne (UE) n’entravent les échanges commerciaux, la coopération régionale, les interactions sociales et culturelles. Les processus de la PEV combinent donc, d’un seul tenant, les trois piliers de l’Union . L’un des traits les plus fascinants de la PEV est le rapport, pas tout à fait déterminé, ..

Is Grand Strategy a Research Program? A Review Essay

The literature on grand strategy is dynamic and voluminous. Yet a vital set of questions remains unsettled. There is little agreement on such basic issues as a common definition of grand strategy, the appropriate methods that should be employed in studying it, which countries qualify as comparative cases, and whether the purpose of research is explanatory or prescriptive. This article examines four recent, important books as a platform for addressing these issues and argues that, as currently constituted, grand strategy is a field of study rather than a mature research program. It concludes by offering a modest range of options that can be employed to rectify these problems and develop a comparative grand strategy program

The External Dimension of EU Justice and Home Affairs: Tools, Processes, Outcomes. CEPS Working Document No. 303, September 2008

This working document offers a conceptual framework for understanding the processes underpinning the external dimension of EU Justice and Home Affairs (ED-JHA). Practically, it defines how the export of JHA principles and norms inform the geopolitical ambitions of the EU, i.e. the use of space for political purposes, or the control and management of people, objects and movement. The author begins by investigating how the ENP reconfigures the ED-JHA, and then goes on to discuss various conceptual stances on governance, specifically institutionalism, constructivism, and policy instruments. To conclude he traces the evolution of this external dimension, emphasising, whenever possible, its continuities and bifurcations. Overall, the aim is to ascertain the extent to which conceptual designs clarify or advance our knowledge of the contents and rationales of the ED-JHA

Migration, Borders and Asylum - Trends and Vulnerabilities in EU Policy. CEPS Paperback. July 2005

What level of policy convergence has been achieved by EU member states on immigration, borders and asylum? Although this question may sound rather theoretical, in practice it has profound consequences on the everyday life of individuals and the very nature of the EU. Common action in this field is exacerbated by the significant obstacles that negatively impact the quality of policies and the success of their implementation. Together with the tense EU struggle between the intergovernmental and community method of governing, these factors are detrimental to an EU-wide policy for promoting freedom, justice and stability in an enlarging Union. In response, authors Thierry Balzacq and Sergio Carrera undertake a critical analysis of the most recent policy developments in this politically sensitive domain. They investigate persistent barriers to harmonisation and suggest how the EU may achieve policy optimalisation. Their work progressively develops a set of recommendations, aimed at overcoming current vulnerabilities in policy approximation and achieving the most appropriate action to ensure equal treatment and social cohesion in the EU

The changing dynamics of security in an enlarged European Union. Challenge Paper No. 12, 24 October 2008

The relation between liberty and security has been highly contestable over the past 10 years in the EU integration process. With the expansion of the EU’s powers into domains falling within the scope of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, liberty and its relation to security has brought a new range of issues, struggles and debates. Acts of political violence labelled as ‘terrorism’ and human mobility at the European and international levels have justified the construction of these phenomena as threats to the security and safety of the nation state. They have legitimised the development of normative responses that go beyond traditional configurations and raise fundamental dilemmas for the security and liberty of the individual. This paper assesses the ways in which the notions and perceptions of security and insecurity in the EU have evolved as political values and legal/policy goals, and how they are being transformed. It aims at synthesising the results of the research conducted since 2004 by the Justice and Home Affairs Section of CEPS through the CHALLENGE project (Changing Landscape of European Liberty and Security). The research has been premised upon one basic, but determining question: To what extent has the evolution of the international context altered the dynamics of liberty and security in the EU

Security and the Two-Level Game: The Treaty of Prüm, the EU and the Management of Threats. CEPS Working Documents No. 234, 1 January 2006

On 27 May 2005, seven Member States signed the Prüm Convention to step up cross-border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism, cross-border crime and illegal migration. Named after the German city in which it was signed, the Treaty’s main advantage is that it enables the signatories to speed up the exchange of information. However, this paper argues that the Treaty produces negative externalities for the European Union’s area of freedom, security and justice by circumventing the EU framework. First, by keeping the Convention under a multilateral umbrella, the signatories create a hierarchy within the EU. Second, by reverting to an intergovernmental arena, the European Parliament is ignored precisely at a time when it is achieving an increasingly central role in law-making in this field. As a result, Prüm weakens the EU more than it strengthens it, and under many circumstances, it simply cannot provide the way forward to the establishment of a manageable area of freedom, security and justice