Nine new reports on European Union by the Istituto Affari Internazionali – IAI, June-September 2015
- The Report of the Five Presidents: A Missed Opportunity, by Fabrizio Saccomanni (Documenti IAI 15|07) July 2015, 6 p.
The report presented by Presidents of the five EU institutions identifies all the essential challenges the EU is facing and acknowledges the need for “a new convergence process” to root out the imbalances that triggered the economic and financial crisis. However, the report is deceptive, since it takes for granted that the EU has as much time as it requires at its disposal to enact reforms; and it is misleading because it subordinates the supranational dimension of policies to the responsibilities of the Member States. Very little is proposed with regard to countercyclical policies in the Eurozone, and the focus is on common monitoring of fiscal compliance. The report continues to evoke a “Europe of Sovereign Nation States” without any significant progress toward Political Union. The report misses an opportunity to send a clearer signal about what a stronger federalist approach could accomplish, especially from a multi-decade standpoint.
http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/report-five-presidents-missed-opportunity
- Global and Operational, A New Strategy for EU Foreign and Security Policy, by Sven Biscop (IAI Working Papers 15|27) July 2015, 15 p.
Strategists of Europe, rejoice! The June 2015 European Council mandated High Representative Federica Mogherini to prepare “an EU global strategy on foreign and security policy” by June 2016. Fully twelve years after the adoption of the European Security Strategy (ESS), the chance to revisit the EU’s grand strategy should be grasped with both hands. What could the new strategy most usefully say and promote? What makes Europe the most equal continent, providing the greatest security, freedom, and prosperity, is the European Social Model. It contains the principles and the values at the heart of EU, that also shape its vital interests. Bearing in mind this assumption, the new ESS should fulfil three functions: define strategic priorities, set a limited number of overall objectives and communicate how the EU sees its role in the world. In sum, on the basis of a geopolitical analysis of the regional and global environment, this coming strategizing effort aims to identify the most important threats and challenges to Europe’s vital interests, and to define priority objectives to which end the preventive, comprehensive, and multilateral method must be applied. How to do that? This paper offers some thoughts.
Paper prepared within the context of “Governing Europe”, a joint project led by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and Centro Studi sul Federalismo (CSF) of Turin in the framework of the strategic partnership with Compagnia di San Paolo, International Affairs Programme.
http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/global-and-operational
- The US-EU Energy Trade Dilemma, by Claudia Squeglia and Rafaello Matarrazzo, (IAI Working Papers 15|28) July 2015, 10 p.
The diverging paths in terms of energy self-sufficiency between the US – among the world largest producers – and Europe – highly dependent on imports – appear to create opportunities for exchanges of oil and gas between the two shores of the Atlantic. On the oil front, recent market developments are putting pressure on US decision-makers to remove the outdated oil export ban that was adopted in the mid-1970s. On the gas side, the EU supply diversification goal is nurturing the Old Continent’s interest in the US’s export potential. Nevertheless, political hurdles undermine the likelihood of the US lifting the oil ban within this presidential term, while the uncertain competitiveness of US gas delivered to European markets could limit US-EU gas exchange. These political and market conditions risk quashing EU efforts for the inclusion of an energy chapter, aimed at boosting EU-US energy trade, in the negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/us-eu-energy-trade-dilemma
- From 9/11 to Da’esh: What Role for the High Representative and the External Dimension of EU Counter-Terrorism Policies?, by Maria Giulia Amadio Viceré, (IAI Working Papers 15|29) September 2015, 22 p.
Under certain conditions, such as security crises, an integrated external EU counter-terrorism policy can emerge without leading to the supra-nationalisation of policy-making. This paper analyses the role of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy with the objective of assessing the influence that such figure can have on the governance of EU counter-terrorism policies. It does so by assessing the EU’s response to three security crises, namely: the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent bombings in Madrid (2004) and London (2005); the Arab Spring and the following destabilisation of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA); and the emergence and spread of Da’esh.
Paper prepared for the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), September 2015. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the workshop “Euro-Mediterranean Security: Can New Dynamism Be Injected in the EU Mediterranean Policy?”, held at the Institute of European Studies of the University of Malta on 13 May 2015.
http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/911-daesh
- Who’s Afraid of … Migration? A New European Narrative of Migration, by Stefano Volpicelli, (IAI Working Papers 15|32) September 2015, 25 p.
Human mobility has changed profoundly since the onset of globalisation, with old patterns of south-north movement of male economic migrants being replaced by mixed flows of people moving because of a variety of needs and motivations. In Europe these changes have gone largely unnoticed and the discourse on migration has been conducted in a confused and contradictory way. Policies have swung between two poles: on one end the view of migrants as a problem rather than as an opportunity; on the other, the view of migrants as vulnerable people escaping poverty or persecution. Through the analysis of policies, juridical terminology, concepts and stereotypes, this paper proposes a three-step approach for a different narrative of migration to curb the political manipulation that, labelling migrants as a threat, is dangerously fuelling racism and discrimination towards “aliens”.
Paper produced within the framework of the New-Med Research Network, September 2015. Presented at the seminar on “Changing Migration Patterns and Migration Governance in the Mediterranean Region”, organised in Rome on 18 December 2014 by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and the OSCE Secretariat.
http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/whos-afraid-migration
- The Migration and Asylum Crisis as a Transformative Shock for Europe. Brief Thoughts on the Eve of the Next Summit, by Ferruccio Pastore, (IAI Working Papers 15|34) September 2015, 5 p.
Never before was the lack of a single European government, or at least of a strong and effective European governance, as acutely felt as in these days. With wars and failed states in the neighbourhood, and an unstoppable exodus crossing Europe, the continent appears at once more interdependent and more fragmented than ever. A coherent model of governance, competent and cohesive, but above all empowered by a full democratic investiture, would be needed everyday, to cope with daily emergencies while painstakingly devising and developing a long-term strategy where such emergency responses would be framed. Instead, in spite of the remarkable efforts of creative leadership made by the Commission, we are “governed” (but the term sounds like a gross overstatement) by subsequent extraordinary summits, each summoned to remedy the failures of the previous one. What can thus be expected and what should be asked, in such dire circumstances, to the next of these ad hoc European Council meeting, scheduled on Wednesday 23 September?
http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/migration-and-asylum-crisis-transformative-shock-europe
- What Government for the European Union? Five Themes for Reflection and Action, By Pier Domenico Tortola and Lorenzo Vai, (Documenti IAI 15|17) September 2015, 16 p.
Faced with many domestic and external challenges to its politico-institutional order, the European Union is in the middle of a protracted critical juncture, whose eventual outcome(s) will likely set the course of European integration for many years to come. Political fluidity and uncertainty present both opportunities and responsibilities for the intellectual sphere, which now sees its chances to influence political developments dramatically increased. Reacting to this state of affairs, the “Governing Europe” research project gathers a number of leading EU scholars and analysts with the double task of taking stock of the political and institutional status quo, and proposing new solutions to render the EU more legitimate, effective and resilient for the future. Consistently with the multi-faceted nature of Europe’s political problems, the project is organised around five broad and cross-sectoral themes: intergovernmentalism vs. supranationalism; democracy and representation; asymmetric integration; economic governance; Europe in the world. For each, this background paper presents a brief overview and a sketch of some of the most pressing issues and questions.
Background paper prepared within the context of “Governing Europe”, a joint project led by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and Centro Studi sul Federalismo (CSF) of Turin in the framework of the strategic partnership with Compagnia di San Paolo, International Affairs Programme.
http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/what-government-european-union
- Overhauling EU Policy in the Mediterranean. Towards More Inclusive, Responsive and Flexible Policies, by Daniela Huber and Marina Cristina Paciello, (IAI Working Papers 15|35) September 2015, 12 p.
As the EU is reviewing its European Neighbourhood Policy, this paper calls for an entirely new approach that would give the EU a stake in the region by responding more effectively to key needs on both sides of the Mediterranean. It first outlines three strategic policy options for the EU – defensive, power-projecting and reflexive approaches – and analyses EU policies accordingly. After observing that EU policies in the Mediterranean since the Arab uprisings have oscillated between a defensive and a power-projecting approach, this paper discusses how EU policies could become more inclusive of key actors, more responsive to key challenges and more flexible on both the multilateral and the bilateral level.
http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/overhauling-eu-policy-mediterranean
- Proposte di riforma della Politica europea di vicinato, by Nicoletta Pirozzi and Lorenzo Vai, (Documenti IAI 15|18) September 2015, 11 p.
This paper collects the recommendations and the proposals for the ongoing revision of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). These are the results that emerged in a series of public debates promoted by the Representation of the European Commission in Italy in collaboration with the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) in the framework the of the Citizens’ Dialogue initiative. The major shortcomings and inefficiencies affecting the ENP since its launch have been highlighted during the meetings through the analysis of two case studies, Libya and Ukraine. On the basis of these reflections, a list of proposals was formulated. The recommendations aim to rethink the nature of the ENP (strengthening its political dimension) and to ensure a better definition and management of its goals (working on the incentives offered to the partner countries). This new ENP should be able to respond both at the short-term needs and long-term objectives imposed by a wide arch of instability in the European neighbourhood that will last for many years to come.
Final report of a reserch project conducted by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) in the framework of the “Citizens’ Dialogues” initiative promoted by the Representation of the European Commission in Italy.
http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/proposte-di-riforma-della-politica-europea-di-vicinato
- The International Spectator, Vol. 50, No. 3, September 2015
With a special core of essays on the The EU’s Wider Neighbourhood in Turmoil. The September issue of IAI’s International Spectator includes a free article on “The US Rebalancing to Asia and Transatlantic Public Opinion”.
http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/vol-50-no-3-september-2015