THE EUROPEAN

UNION AND NATO

INR 339-INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
-Traditional definition of “region”:
 To share geographical proximity,
 Cultural, linguistic and historical heritage
 Mutual interdependence

-Constructivist definition of region: A region is socially and politically constructed

with various concepts, metaphors and practices, which also shows who is included
and excluded. (ex: Eurovision song contest, which includes Israel, which is
geographically in the Middle East.)

-Perceptions, prejudices or desires of the core group of states forming the region,
determine whether to accept any “outsiders.” (ex: Turkey’s candidacy to the EU and
its accession process based on “political criteria”)
Political Factors Driving Regionalism

 Power dynamics: Pivotal regional powers, great powers or hegemonic powers create or
shape regional organizations
 Identity and Ideology: People and leaders socialize and attain common identities. Ideology
(liberalism, anti-colonialism, non-intervention or regional/ethnic unity) may bring states
together.
 Internal and External Threats: Shared perception of external or internal threat may push
states to cooperate (Cold War threat of communism, German nationalism, US presence in
Vietnam)
 Leadership: Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman for a united Europe; Indonesia for ASEAN;
Australia and Japan for APEC, Egypt and Nasser for the Arab League, the United States for
NATO.
 Economic factors: Economic interdependence requires coordination.
Europe’s Regional Organizations
 Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC)-1948 to administer the US
Marshall Plan aid
 Western European Union (WEU)-Brussels Treaty 1948 (France, UK and Benelux) (amended
in 1954)
 NATO-Washington Treaty 1949
 European Coal and Steel Community, proposed by Robert Schuman in 1950 to prevent war
between France and Germany. Treaty of Paris-1951 (France, Italy, West Germany, Benelux)
 Treaty of Rome-1957: European Communities (EC)/ European Economic Community
(EEC), a.k.a Common Market, European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom Treaty-signed
the same date)
 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe-1973: To reduce the tension in Europe by
including the Soviet Union, and by focusing on economic cooperation and prosperity for the
communist bloc.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO)
 ”Collective defense” organization: Article V of Washington Treaty:
 An armed attack against one of more of the allies in Europe or North America will
be considered an attack against all allies.
 Lord Ismay: [NATO is designed]…to keep Americans in, Russians out and Germans
down.”
 Article V was invoked first time following September 11, 2001 attacks on the
United States.
 https://www.nato.int/
NATO Structure
 North Atlantic Council: Its principal organ. Twice a year meeting of ministers of defense
or foreign affairs in Brussels, NATO HQ. Also, meets at the summit level participated by
heads of state and government. Decisions based on consensus.
 Secretary General: Chairs the Council, arranges meeting agendas, represents the
organization
 Parliamentary Assembly: Institutionally separate from NATO, but serves as a link between
NATO and the parliaments of the NATO nations
 Military Committee: Chiefs of staff or representatives of member states. Oversees
integrated military command structure and missions.
 SACEUR (Supreme Allied Commander Europe) traditionally held by a US military
officer.
 Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Mons-Belgium
 Member States

NATO Delegations Military Representatives

Nuclear North
Planning Atlantic
Group Council Military
Committee
Secretary General

International Staff International Military Staff

Allied Command Operations Allied Command

Transformation
MAIN ISSUES
 US commitment to the defense of Europe brought forward questions on security
priorities for the allies and burden sharing between them.
 Dilemma: It is the United States which contributes the most financially and military
to the defense of Europe, thus controls agenda-setting and decision-making
processes.
 On the other hand, after the end of the Cold War, it expects Europeans to contribute
more financially and militarily to their own defense.
 This showed itself in the process and debate on EU-only operations vs. operations
using NATO assets and capabilities and at the same time avoidance of duplication of
NATO assets and capabilities.
 As the Cold War ended in 1989 and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the threat that led
to its creation disappeared, and NATO had to define new threats of the post-Cold War and
adapt itself to new circumstances with a new role.
 There was a need to re-define the scope and nature of its mission inside and outside of
Europe: What are new threats, what should responses be like, and what role would NATO
play?
 Ethnic conflict in former Yugoslavia was the main challenge. The threat was “instability”,
due to migration, atrocities, humanitarian disasters. Response was defined as conflict
prevention, crisis management, peacekeeping, peacemaking, humanitarian aid, post-
conflict tasks including police missions, election monitoring, reconstruction.
 NATO enlargement would serve two purposes:
 First was to include the former Soviet bloc countries into the zone of peace and stability
created by Western values and the security shield to the Euro-Atlantic area.
 Second, and related to the first, is not to let these countries to be politically and
economically drawn to the Russians, again.

 Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic joined in 1997.

 2004: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia
 2009: Croatia, Albania
 2017: Montenegro
 2020: Republic of North Macedonia
Relations with Russia (from NATO
website)
 Russia joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (1991). It was succeeded in 1997 by the
Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
 Practical cooperation started after Russia joined the Partnership for Peace program (1994) and
deployed peacekeepers to support NATO-led peace-support operations in the Western Balkans in
the late 1990s.
 The 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act provided the formal basis for bilateral relations.
 NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999 made Russia concerned.
 2002: NATO-Russia Council (NRC) was established for consultation on current security issues
and cooperation.
 With Russia's military action in Georgia in August 2008, formal meetings of NRC were
suspended until spring 2009. The occupation of Russia of some lands of these countries
 US proposals to include Georgia and Ukraine to NATO was balanced by other members that
they can be offered membership action plan (MAP), which was put forward in 2008
Bucharest Summit. They were included in the group of Enhanced Opportunities Partners.
 Cooperation under the NRC has been suspended since April 2014, in response to Russia’s
military intervention and actions in Ukraine, and its occupation and annexation of Crimea.
But NATO kept channels of political and military communication open to exchange
information on issues of concern, reduce misunderstandings and increase predictability.
 NATO Allies are also concerned about military activities near NATO’s borders in the Baltic
and the Black Sea; Russia’s aggressive nuclear rhetoric and military posture; its military
intervention and support for the regime in Syria; and the nerve agent attack in the United
Kingdom in March 2018 on Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
 On 2 August 2019, the North Atlantic Council issued a statement supporting the United
States decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in
response to Russia’s breach of the Treaty.
New Post-Cold War Roles:

 As a result of the conflicts in former Yugoslavia in early 1990s, NATO enforced an arms
embargo and a no-fly zone starting in 1992.
 1995, with UNSC authorization, it bombed Bosnian Serb installations, which paved the
way for peace negotiations.
 NATO was engaged in peacekeeping and peacebuilding in former Yugoslavia, by
providing the majority of Implementation Force (IFOR), then replaced by Stabilization
Force (SFOR) from 1996 to 2004.
 In 1999, NATO intervened in the conflict in Kosovo by aerial bombing of Serbia, and they
provided the majority of troops for the Kosovo Force (KFOR) in 1999.
 https://jfcnaples.nato.int/kfor/about-us/history
Afghanistan and the War on Terrorism

 NATO invoked Article V of the Washington Treaty, as a result of September 11,

2001 attacks on the United States.
 The United States declared war on terrorism.
 In December 2001, operation in Afghanistan started under UN mandated
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was then taken over by
NATO in 2003. ISAF mission was completed I 2014 was Afghan forces took full
security responsibility. NATO and US forces continued to provide training and
assistance.
 All troops withdrew from Afghanistan by late 2021.
 NATO debates the potential challenges and threats in the broader region.
Other Roles
 Iraq War created a crisis in NATO by dividing the allies: European members refused
US request for limited support. Some countries blocked planning for NATO support to
Turkey against possible strikes, and any official presence of NATO in Iraq.
 NATO did provide training and assistance to Iraqi army from 2004 to 2011.
 It supported African Union peacekeeping missions in Darfur and Somalia. Also,
patrolled in the Horn of Africa to combat piracy.
 NATO, under UNSCRs of 2011, enforced a no-fly zone and arms embargo in Libya. It
struck against Libyan forces from air and water, by giving the opposition an advantage
to overthrow Qaddafi. However, it was a controversial one by going beyond its
mandate.
 The operation showed the divide between members and the discrepancy in financial
contribution
The European Union

 An example of functionalism and neo-functionalism: common interests and needs

resulting in integration; spill-over effect of functional cooperation to other areas.
 Encompasses aspects of supranationalism and intergovernmentalism
 In its development, there were two main processes taking place: Widening (enlargement)
and deepening (integrating economies and societies, expanding the authority of
community institutions over member states).
Historical Overview

 Before WWII, there was a call for federalism to unite Europe, both East and West, to prevent
war, but it could not be materialized.
 Two world wars, as a result of national rivalries, devastated the economies of Europe.
 There was a need to decrease threat perceptions and war mobilization, and to recover the
economies at the same time. (Take Europe from a Realist zone of security to a liberal zone of
security)
 Europe was the main trade partner of the United States, so its economic recovery and political
stability was critical.
 It promoted democracy and an open international economic system to replace protectionism.
 Soviet threat externally and communist parties in domestic politics required economic
integration to maintain liberal economies and interdependence to prevent war and to
achieve prosperity.
 Germany had to be kept under control through international agreements.
 The US government put forward an economic plan to ”inject external funds” in order to
revive the European economies and proposed the Marshall Plan.
 It required the receiving economies to have a free market and to integrate their economies.
 Jean Monnet and Alcide de Gasperi talked about a “United States of Europe.”
 European Coal and Steel Community: French foreign minister Robert Schuman
proposed putting Franco-German coal and steel production under a common “high
authority.”
 To oversee the war industry, and to provide “mutual verification capability” to the rival
states, thereby decreasing threat perceptions and possibility of war.
 It also recognized Germany as an equal, though it was the enemy and defeated state in
WWII.
 France, Germany, Italy, Benelux established ECSC in 1951.
 Expanded cooperation under European Atomic Energy Community and European
Economic Community in 1958.
 The founding documents of these three organizations form the constitutional basis of the
European Union.
The Treaties of Rome
 Two treaties were signed in Rome, on March 25, 1957: The Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community
(EAEC) or Euratom to establish a common market for atomic energy.
 The first is also referred to as the “Treaty of Rome.”
 EEC Treaty created a common market for 12 years, removing all restrictions on internal trade,
adapting common external tariff, reducing barriers to ensure free movement of people, services and
capital, developing common agricultural and transport policies, and established the European
Social Fund and European Investment Bank.
 (Note that these measures and provisions under the EEC/Common market are driven from neo-
classical economic theory that reduces state intervention and allows the operation of market
dynamics as well as “Gains from Trade” by allowing free trade and elimination of trade barriers
(tariffs, quotas and other barriers))
Widening (Enlargement)
 1958 (Original members): Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands
 1973: Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland
 1981: Greece, 1986: Portugal, Spain
 1995: Austria, Finland, Sweden
 2004: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia,
Slovenia
 2007: Bulgaria, Romania
 2013: Croatia
 European Council put forward conditions for candidates, called Copenhagen criteria including
respect for democracy, rule of law and human rights, protection of minorities, functioning market
economy, and capacity to implement acquis communautaire.
Deepening
 France proposed a European Defence Community (EDC) in 1950.
 European Political Community was proposed in 1952 as a combination of ECSC and the proposed
EDC, which was rejected in 1954 in the French parliament.
 For political unification, European Political Cooperation (EPC) was proposed in the Davignon
report of 1970. It was amended in 1973 and 1981 by Copenhagen and London reports. Then it was
formalized as the Single European Act (SEA) in 1986 (EIF: 1987), with the goal of completing a
single market by 1992.
 Maastricht Treaty on the EU (1992): The original European Community being only one of the
three pillars of the EU, along with Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Justice and
Home Affairs (JHA).
 European Monetary Union (EMU) 1999: Euro was introduced.
 Maastricht created European citizenship, with the right to free movement, employment and
settlement across the Union.
 Treaty of Amsterdam (1997): further enlargement, social policy, immigration, asylum,
environment.
 Treaty of Nice (2003) amending the EU Treaty to reform the institutional structure of the
EU to cope with the enlargement to the east.
 The changes in the quality majority voting was criticized by many governments on
political grounds.
 Treaty of Lisbon (2009) (initially Reform Treaty) included the provisions of the Nice
Treaty, designed to improve the efficiency of institutions and to make them more
democratic.
 Provided the EU with international legal status, enabled it to sign international treaties, be
a member of IGOs.
Structure

 The European Commission

 Council of the European Union (Council of Ministers)
 European Parliament
 European Council
European Commission

 Supranational, executive and bureaucratic body of the EU, main body for integration.
 Role: Promotes the general interest of the EU by proposing and enforcing legislation and
by implementing policies and the EU budget
 Members: A team or 'College' of Commissioners, 1 from each EU country
 It is politically independent executive institution.
 Proposes new laws, manages EU decisions and allocates EU funding, enforces EU law,
and represents EU internationally
 Political leadership is provided by a team of 27 Commissioners (one from each EU
country) – led by the Commission President, who decides who is responsible for which
policy area.
Council of the European Union
 The Council of Ministers is composed of national government ministers, making decisions
on law and policy. It is intergovernmental.
 Members are Government ministers from each EU country, according to the policy area to be
discussed
 Each EU country holds the presidency on a 6-month rotating basis.
 Together with the European Parliament, the Council is the main decision-making body of the
EU.
 It negotiates and adopts EU laws, together with the European Parliament, based on proposals
from the European Commission.
 Coordinates EU countries' policies, develops the EU's foreign & security policy, based on
European Council guidelines.
 Concludes agreements between the EU and other countries or international organizations.
 adopts the annual EU budget - jointly with the European Parliament
European Parliament

 Directly-elected EU body with legislative, supervisory, and budgetary

responsibilities.
 Composed of 705 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament)
 Established in 1952 as Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel
Community, 1962 as European Parliament, first direct elections in 1979
 Location: Strasbourg (France), Brussels (Belgium), Luxembourg
 MEPs sit according their political group
European Council or Summit
 Defines the general political direction and priorities of the European Union
 Members are the heads of state or government of EU countries, European Council President,
European Commission President
 Established in 1974 as an informal forum, when member state head of state and government
agreed to hold regular summit meetings to give greater political impetus to integration process
and policy direction.
 It acquired formal status in 1992 , and became an official EU institution in 2009.
 Decides on the EU's overall direction and political priorities Also sets the EU's common
foreign & security policy, taking into account EU strategic interests and defense implications.
 Made up of the heads of state or government of all EU countries, the European Council
President, and the European Commission President. Convened and chaired by its President,
who is elected for a once-renewable two-and-a-half-year term.
NATO and the EU on European Security

 NATO defined its New Strategic Concept in 1991. Regarding security challenges and risks, it
stated that…
 “Risks to Allied security are less likely to result from calculated aggression against the
territory of the Allies, but rather from the adverse consequences of instabilities that may arise
from the serious economic, social and political difficulties, including ethnic rivalries and
territorial disputes, which are faced by many countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The
tensions which may result, as long as they remain limited, should not directly threaten the
security and territorial integrity of members of the Alliance. They could, however, lead to
crises inimical to European stability and even to armed conflicts, which could involve outside
powers or spill over into NATO countries, having a direct effect on the security of the
Alliance.”
 The new debate: How to respond to the new security challenges and risks? Who will
respond with which capabilities and which tasks?
 European Security and Defense Identity (ESDI): Where NATO is the leading organization
and the EU will share some burden Europe’s own security challenges.
 European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP): The EU will do more for its own security
and defense, take EU-only operations with the use of NATO assets and capabilities. This
was disputed by NATO member states like Turkey.
 Saint Malo 1998: France and the UK called for a European foreign policy and that the
EU must have its own capabilities for autonomous action backed by military forces to
respond to international crises. This view was endorsed in the Cologne European
Council in 1999.
 Member states declared that the EU should have its own capabilities for a common
policy on security and defense. Behind this idea was Javier Solana, who became the
first High Representative of the CFSP. The EU also established the Political and
Security Committee (PSC), EU Military Committee (EUMC) and EU Military Staff
(EUMS).
 ESDP evolved as differences were resolved, and became Common Security and
Defense Policy (CSDP) under CFSP.
 The Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) enables the Union to take a leading
role in peace-keeping operations, conflict prevention and in the strengthening of the
international security. It is an integral part of the EU's comprehensive approach
towards crisis management, drawing on civilian and military assets.
European Defense Agency

 The European Defense Agency was established under a Joint Action of the Council of
Ministers on 12 July, 2004, "to support the Member States and the Council in their effort to
improve European defense capabilities in the field of crisis management and to sustain the
European Security and Defense Policy.
 The European Defense Agency has three main missions:
 supporting the development of defense capabilities and military cooperation among the
European Union Member States;
 stimulating defense Research and Technology (R&T) and strengthening the European
defense industry;
 acting as a military interface to EU policies.