Europeanisation of National Foreign Policy: The Case of Britain

Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang

PhD candidate

School of Global, Urban and Social Sciences

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Organisation of the presentation

1. Understanding Europeanisation

2. Defining Europeanisation of Foreign Policy

3. Europeanisation of Foreign Policy: The Case of Britain

4. Concluding remarks

Understanding Europeanisation

‘Europeanisation’: a ‘hotly contested’ term.

General agreement: Europeanisation as a force for

change in politics, policies and polities of the EU.

However, a consensus on consistent measurement and

analysis of such changes has not been reached.

Understanding Europeanisation

In the early studies: Europeanisation is mainly perceived as a

‘bottom-up’ process.

From the late 1990s: More research has placed emphasis on

exploring the impacts of European integration on member states

and how they adapt to Europe: Europeanisation is mainly viewed as

a ‘top-down’ process.

Understanding Europeanisation

The recent years have witnessed the scholars’ efforts to explore

the conceptual linkage between the bottom-up and top-down

dimensions.

A widely-accepted definition: ‘Europeanization denotes a complex

interactive ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ process in which domestic

polities, politics and public policies are shaped by European

integration and in which domestic actors use European integration

to shape the domestic arena.’ (Dyson and Goetz, 2003).

Defining Europeanisation of Foreign

Policy

In their work ‘The Foreign Policy of the European Union’

Keukelire & MacNaughtan describe that

‘the relationship and interacting processes of foreign

policy on the national level and foreign policy on the EU

level are often labelled as ‘Europeanisation.’ (Keukelire &

MacNaughtan 2008, p.142)

Defining Europeanisation of Foreign Policy

National Adaptation-(Downloading/Top-Down) Member

States are subject to influences and stimuli from the EU.

Outcomes: Changes of national institutions, processes,

ideas and policies due to practices, rules, objectives and

norms adopted or prescribed at the EU level.

Defining Europeanisation of Foreign Policy

National Projection-(Uploading/Bottom-Up) Member

States seek to influence EU foreign policy and the

foreign policies of other Member States.

Outcomes: Exporting of national policy preferences,

policy models and ideas onto the EU level.

Europeanisation of Foreign Policy:

The Case of Britain

National adaptation is manifested mainly in some

alterations in British foreign policy stance and the

reorganization of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Europeanisation of Foreign Policy: The Case of Britain

In parallel, national projection has been critically

implemented by British government to reduce the cost of

downloading.

As a powerful nation-state in the EU, the exporting of

British policy preferences to the EU level has been

carried out through launching initiatives in European

foreign and defence policy.

Concluding Remarks

Europeanisation has been increasingly understood as a

‘circular process’ in which ‘member states are not

passive recipients of pressures from the EU; they also

try to project national policy preferences upwards.

Concluding Remarks

The perception of Europeanisation as ‘a two-way

relationship’ constitutes a foundation to explore how

foreign policy is Europeanised.

Concluding Remarks

Regarding the foreign policy sphere, Britain has proved

itself to be a member state capable of both exporting its

concerns to the EU level and responding to top-down

pressures.