"Playing the Brussels game: Strategic socialisation in the CFSP Council Working Groups*"

The aim of this article is to analyse the process of socialisation taking place at the level of the Council Working Groups (CWGs) dealing with the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Based on recent empirical evidence, this article explains the main codes of conduct adopted by the national diplomats in the CFSP CWGs, such as the reflex coordination or consensus-building practice. Compliance with these rules stems from strategic calculations based on legitimacy concerns and the long-term perspective of the negotiations. Hence, in this case, the internalisation of norms has not taken place yet. Even though this view may suggest a conceptualisation of national representatives in the CWGs as passive “national champions”, it is argued here that they might also play a role in influencing the position of their capitals, mainly through the process of formulating the instructions

The Deadlock that never Happened: the Impact of Enlargement on the Common Foreign and Security Policy Council Working Groups

Contrary to some previous assumptions, the enlargement did not halt the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) decision-making process in a substantial way. Rather it changed the dynamics within the working environment, preserving the importance of consensus-building practices in the Council working groups. The aim of this article is twofold. First, it tracks the changes that the recent enlargement caused in the working practices of the Council working groups. It also attempts to assess the adaptation processes of the new member states to the work in the Council working groups and pinpoint the main challenges that their administrative systems were faced with.Council working groups, CFSP, enlargement, committee governance, informal rules, socialisation, adaptation, code of conduct

The influence of newer member states in the European Union:the case of Poland and the Eastern partnership

This article seeks to examine and assess the role of Poland in the early stages of the making of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union. First, it briefly reviews Poland's aims and ambitions with regard to the European Union's policy towards its eastern neighbours, both before and since it joined the European Union in 2004. Second, it describes and analyses the Eastern Partnership, including its added value for the European Neighbourhood Policy. Third, it draws on a range of interviews carried out by the authors in Brussels and Warsaw on Poland's role in the initial formation of the Eastern Partnership, as seen by its partners in the other member states and European institutions. In addition, it seeks to unpack some of the early stage lessons learnt by the Polish government about how best to achieve its ambitions in the European Union, and notes the remaining weaknesses of the Polish administration, particularly in the area of administrative capacity

Contesting procedural norms:the impact of politicisation on European foreign policy cooperation

Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviou

Poland and the common foreign and security policy of the European Union : from adaptation to Europeanisation?

Practitioners and academics clearly established that participation in the EU system of foreign policy-making transforms national foreign policies. Whilst there have been detailed studies of the impact of participation in EU foreign policy on the original fifteen member states there are, as yet, few academic studies that have thoroughly investigated the impact of progressive integration in the area of EU foreign and security policy on the new (i.e. those who joined since 2004) member states. This thesis aims to address this deficit by focusing on the impact of Poland's participation in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). It examines the processes of 'downloading', as it is argued here that involvement in CFSP has had a direct effect on both the procedures of foreign policy-making in the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and, on the substance of Polish foreign policy as well as the impact of 'uploading' from member states to the EU level and 'crossloading' between EU member states. The thesis addresses the relevant conceptual issues and provides an outline of the academic debate regarding Europeanisation and foreign policy. It identifies three mechanisms that are responsible for change: conditionality, socialisation and learning. It suggests that a member state first adapts its national foreign policy to bring it in line with the EU's acquis politique and introduces basic changes in its institutional procedures in order to effectively participate in the EU's CFSP. Only later, does socialisation and learning result in changes to how national foreign policy is made, which then facilitates both changes to the substance of national policy and the uploading of national preferences to the EU level. A two-phase model of change is introduced which identifies April 2003, when Poland first became an active observer within the EU, as the date when Europeanisation began. The thesis provides a brief explanation of the transformation of Polish foreign policy after 1989, in order to provide contextual background for the four substantive chapters which follow: one procedural on the changes in the Polish MFA and three related to policy substance. The latter three chapters examine the Europeanisation of policy towards Poland's East European neighbours in general and policies towards Ukraine and Belarus in particular. The thesis concludes with a set of methodological and conceptual observations followed by analysis of the empirical findings.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo