Five new reports on European Union by the Istituto Affari Internazionali – IAI, January-March 2015
Maria Giulia Amadio Viceré, Beyond the Intergovernmental-Supranational Divide in EU Foreign Policy: Insights from Kosovo, (IAI Working Papers 15|01) January 2015, 21 p.
Because of the intergovernmental nature of EU foreign policy, the role of the European Commission in EU external action is often considered minimal or residual. Providing a systematic review of the case of Kosovo, this paper demonstrates that it is possible to identify different degrees of integration in EU foreign policy. It does so by investigating under which conditions Member States delegate foreign policy competences to the Commission. In the case of Kosovo, integration in EU foreign policy has been conditioned by the level of control Member States have chosen exercise on or delegate to supranational institutions.
(http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/beyond-intergovernmental-supranational-divide-eu-foreign-policy)
Marie-Claire Aoun, European Energy Security Challenges and Global Energy Trends: Old Wine in New Bottles?, (IAI Working Papers 15|03) January 2015, 19 p.
European energy security challenges have changed dramatically in the past 20 years. On the one hand, the current tensions between Russia and the EU are undermining their historical partnership on energy; on the other, deep transformations in the energy landscape at the global level, triggered by technological advances and major geo-political transformations, are leading the EU to rethink its energy security strategy. The aim of this paper is to discuss European energy security in a changing global context and to analyse the tools and policies implemented to strengthen it. The role of potential future vectors of energy cooperation between the EU and its Mediterranean neighbours is also examined.
Paper produced within the framework of the IAI-OCP Policy Center partnership and presented at the international seminar “Morocco’s Role in Fostering Euro-Mediterranean Energy Cooperation” organised in Rabat on 26 September 2014.
(http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/european-energy-security-challenges-and-global-energy-trends)
Marcello Messori, In Search of a New Equilibrium. Economic Imbalances in the Eurozone, (IAI Research Papers 17) January 2015, 211 p.
The book shows that the recent correction of negative imbalances in the current accounts of the large majority of peripheral Member States in the euro area is mainly due to a recession-driven decrease in imports, monetary wage compression, and below-average rates of inflation. This re-equilibrating process led to short-term adjustments, but it has not corrected the structural competitiveness gaps that built up inside the euro area during the first decade of its life (1999-2007) due to the inefficient allocation of financial flows from the European central economies to the peripheral ones. Contrary to the predictions of the standard macroeconomic models based on the “catching-up” mechanism, these financial flows did not adequately foster the productivity of lagged Member States in the euro area. Our proposal is to replace the “invisible hand” of the market with the “visible hand” of a European policy project. We argue that an effective policy initiative would have to combine a programme of European public and private investments with “contractual arrangements” for implementing crucial national reforms. This strategy might provide a short-term positive demand shock as well as strengthen the long-term structural competitiveness of the peripheral Member States without involving direct financial transfers, but allowing an intergovernmental cooperation and a trust-building process under the control of European institutions.
(http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/search-new-equilibrium)
Amanda Paul, The Eastern Partnership, the Russia-Ukraine War, and the Impact on the South Caucasus, (IAI Working Papers 15|06) February 2015, 14 p.
The South Caucasus is a fragmented and security challenged region. Despite hopes that the Eastern Partnership (EaP) would act as a transformative tool to strengthen democracy, stability, security and regional cooperation, this has not happened. Rather the EaP has produced limited results, with the region today more fragmented than it was five years ago. Russia’s war against Ukraine has further exacerbated the situation as it raised concerns over the extent to which the South Caucasus countries could genuinely rely on the West. Today, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have different geostrategic trajectories. While Georgia has stuck to the Euro-Atlantic track, Armenia joined the Russian-led Eurasian Union in January 2015. Meanwhile Azerbaijan has the luxury of choosing not to choose. Developments in the region have demonstrated that a one size fits all approach does not work and a more differentiated policy is required.
Paper prepared for the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) within the framework of the project “Azerbaijan, Caucasus and the EU: Towards Close Cooperation?”. Revised version of a paper presented at the conference on “EU and the South Caucasus: What Next for the Eastern Partnership?”, Rome, 8 October 2014.
(http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/eastern-partnership-russia-ukraine-war-and-impact-south-caucasus)
The International Spectator, Vol. 49, No. 4, December 2014
Special cores on The Ukraine Crisis and the Future of Western-Russian Relations and EU Migration Policy – Protecting the Migrants or the Union?
Free article on: A Reappraisal of the EU’s Expanding Readmission System
(http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/vol-49-no-4-december-2014)