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Treaty Reform and the European Union's Policy towards the Middle East Peace Process: Much Ado About Nothing?

Kristoffersson, Mattis LU (2013) STVM23 20131
Department of Political Science
Abstract
In 1993 with the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty, the European Union, for the first time, formally institutionalized foreign policy cooperation in its Treaties. Thence, the Treaties governing the foreign policy of the Union has undergone no less than four reforms, introducing theoretically interesting institutional innovations. Despite this, academia has largely turned its attention towards the capability and capacity of the European Union of being a fully fledged foreign policy actor. Research which, with the formalization and institutionalization of the Union’s foreign policy, has become irrelevant since empirical data establish that the Union, at an increasing rate, is producing foreign policies. With this in mind, research on... (More)
In 1993 with the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty, the European Union, for the first time, formally institutionalized foreign policy cooperation in its Treaties. Thence, the Treaties governing the foreign policy of the Union has undergone no less than four reforms, introducing theoretically interesting institutional innovations. Despite this, academia has largely turned its attention towards the capability and capacity of the European Union of being a fully fledged foreign policy actor. Research which, with the formalization and institutionalization of the Union’s foreign policy, has become irrelevant since empirical data establish that the Union, at an increasing rate, is producing foreign policies. With this in mind, research on the capacity of the Union, I argue, is rendered obsolete. Instead, this thesis place the policy in the spotlight and seek to investigate the impact the institutionalization and Treaty reforms has had on shaping and changing the course of the Union’s foreign policy.
In order to materialize this ambition a small-n comparative case study design has been deployed alongside three theoretical perspectives which point towards distinct institutional mechanisms that conceivably could shape and change the direction of the Union’s policies. In terms of policy, the Union’s policy towards the Middle East peace process has been selected to test and investigate whether the theoretical promises congrue with empiricism.
The results demonstrate that the institutional constraints established in the Treaties de facto shaped the Union’s policy towards the peace process. However, in terms of changing the course of the Union’s policy there are no major empirical observations that suggests that Treaty reform has had any implications whatsoever. (Less)
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author
Kristoffersson, Mattis LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVM23 20131
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Treaty reform, policy, policy change, institutions, structures, CFSP, Middle East Peace Process
language
English
id
3971536
date added to LUP
2013-09-02 09:09:14
date last changed
2013-09-02 09:09:14
@misc{3971536,
  abstract     = {{In 1993 with the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty, the European Union, for the first time, formally institutionalized foreign policy cooperation in its Treaties. Thence, the Treaties governing the foreign policy of the Union has undergone no less than four reforms, introducing theoretically interesting institutional innovations. Despite this, academia has largely turned its attention towards the capability and capacity of the European Union of being a fully fledged foreign policy actor. Research which, with the formalization and institutionalization of the Union’s foreign policy, has become irrelevant since empirical data establish that the Union, at an increasing rate, is producing foreign policies. With this in mind, research on the capacity of the Union, I argue, is rendered obsolete. Instead, this thesis place the policy in the spotlight and seek to investigate the impact the institutionalization and Treaty reforms has had on shaping and changing the course of the Union’s foreign policy.
In order to materialize this ambition a small-n comparative case study design has been deployed alongside three theoretical perspectives which point towards distinct institutional mechanisms that conceivably could shape and change the direction of the Union’s policies. In terms of policy, the Union’s policy towards the Middle East peace process has been selected to test and investigate whether the theoretical promises congrue with empiricism.
The results demonstrate that the institutional constraints established in the Treaties de facto shaped the Union’s policy towards the peace process. However, in terms of changing the course of the Union’s policy there are no major empirical observations that suggests that Treaty reform has had any implications whatsoever.}},
  author       = {{Kristoffersson, Mattis}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Treaty Reform and the European Union's Policy towards the Middle East Peace Process: Much Ado About Nothing?}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}