The European Unionas a civilian power

Dr. Sören Philipps

European Studies/

University of Hannover

s.philipps@freenet.de

IIZ/DVV: Conference „History Education and Regional Policy Harmonization“Pristina, Kosovo 17.-20.11.2005

History and prospects

Military power <–> civilian power

-external relations -external relations and inner structure

-descriptive and normative dimension; means and ends

-traditional pattern of power-politics

„Civil Power“

Louis-François Duchêne (1927-2005)

-> Europe as a „civil power“, giving NATO sole responsibility for the military aspects of security and defense.

- Cold War has “devaluated purely military power”

Peaceful Europe?

Jaques Callot (1620-1687) , Les miseres de la guerre

- On the laws of war and peace (De iure belli et pacis, 1625)

Hugo Grotius (1583-1645)

 "I saw in the whole Christian world a license of fighting at which even barbarous nations might blush. Wars were begun on trifling pretexts or none at all, and carried on without any reference of law, Divine or human.“

- To Perpetual Peace (1795)

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

"No Treaty of Peace Shall Be Held Valid in Which There Is Tacitly Reserved Matter for a Future War."

"No State Shall by Force Interfere with the Constitution or Government of Another State."

- Principles of Political Economy (1848)

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

„The great extend and rapid increase of international trade is the principal guarantee of the peace of the world.”

-„Schuman-Declaration“ (09th May, 1950)

Robert Schuman (1886-1963)

„Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity. (…) The solidarity in production thus established will make it plain that any war between France and Germany becomes not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible.”

The EU – a civilian power?

Pro:

- Dedication to universal values (-> Treaty on European Union)- cooperation and bargaining as - binding commitment to multilateralism (membership in international organisations, multilateral treaties)

Contra:

- history of European Integration („civilian power by default“?)- new institutions in context with CFSP- weak institutional safeguards for the primacy of civilian means, financial underfunding

The EU´s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)

Introduced as the EU´s second pillar by the Treaty of Maastricht (1992)

The European Union as a civilian power:

de-facto characteristics:

-„bargaining community“ (inner structure favors consensus- oriented decisionmaking)- is strong in terms of influencing third countries´ policies by awarding economical and political support- is weak in responding fast and effectively to crises with military implications- seeks to expand not only rules and structure, but also norms and values- policy is shaped by a „balancing process“ seeking to combine incongruent elements within the EU system („muddling through“)

What can we do? Consequences for history teaching:

- making familiar with the complexity of „civility“, its different components and historical roots - using „civility“ as a two-sided tool with a descriptive (what is?) and a normative side (what should be?) in order to evaluate the EU today and European Integration history

-> elaborate a realistiv view on „civility“

- making aware of EU policies, create a feeling of „what is at stake“- emphasise our own role and responsibility for the future: civility requires public support and well-informed, active choice

Resources used:Christian W. Burckhardt, Why is there a public debate about the idea of a “Civilian Power Europe”? The London School of Economics, European Institite (EI) Working Paper 02/2004, London 2004 .  

Tobias Debiel, Martina Fischer, Crisis prevention & conflict management by the European Union. Concepts, capacities and problems of coherence (=Berghoff Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, Report No. 4). Berlin, 2000.

Matthias Dembinski, Kein Abschied vom Leitbild „Zivilmacht“. Die Europäische Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik und die Zukunft Europäischer Außenpolitik. HFSK-Re port 12/2002, Frankfurt/M., 2002.

Hans-Georg Erhart, Abschied vom Leitbild ´Zivilmacht´? Konzepte zur EU-Sicherheitspolitik nach dem Irak-Krieg, in: Johannes Varwick, Wilhelm Knelangen (eds.), Neues Europa- alte EU? Fragen an den europäischen Integrationsprozess. Opladen, 2004, pp. 149-163.

Annette Jünemann, Niklas Schörnig, Die Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik der „Zivilmacht Europa“. Ein Widerspruch in sich? (HFSK-Report No. 13/2002), Frankfurt, 2002.

Werner Ruf, Europa auf dem Weg zur konstitutionellen Militärmacht? In: Hans J. Gießmann, Kurt Tudyka (eds.), Dem Frieden dienen. Zum Gedenken an Prof. Dr. Dr. Dieter Lutz. Baden-Baden, 2004, pp. 66 –81.

Reinhardt Rummel, Wie zivil ist die ESVP? SWP-aktuell 10/2003, Berlin 2003. Wolfgang Wagner, Für Europa sterben? Die demokratische Legitimität der Euro päischen Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik. HFSK-Report 03/2004, Frankfurt/M., 2004.

European Security Strategy „A secure Europe in a better world“. Bruxelles, 12 th December 2003 (URL: http://ue.eu.int/uedocs/cmsUpload/78367.pdf, called 18.08.2005, 11:30 a.m.).

Thank you!

Contact:Dr. Sören Philipps, University of Hannover/ European StudiesMobile +49 (0)160 950 32 008 Prishtina +381 44 632 381 Mail s.philipps@freenet.de