Christian Lequesne

Conclusion. Diffuse democracy in the European Union: The pathologies of delegation

As the EU is not a state, and not likely to become one in the foreseeable future, it cannot rely on classic institutional devices - parliamentary or presidential regimes - to curb its democratic deficit. The EU is characterized as a form of multi-level governance with diffuse mechanisms of democratic control. Such a process of democratization is nevertheless not efficient enough to be called democratic.

Quota hopping: the common fisheries policy between states and markets.

The representation of European fishermen is still predominantly linked to national and local communities. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), set up in 1970 to regulate ‘European’ fisheries has integrated this representation in its main rules. From the 1980s onwards, this territorial logic of the CFP has been challenged by free market rules. In particular, the freedom of establishment and the free movement of capital have enabled EU shipowners to purchase vessels and to use national quotas in other EU countries. British fishermen have called this phenomenon ‘quota hopping’. As a case study, quota hopping illustrates the contradictions which exist in the EU between the territorial logic of an economic sector and the process of deterritorialization induced by liberal market norms. The mobilization of local fishing communities and of national governments against the changes which the EC market has brought about are not without effect. States have to cope with economic actors – the quota hoppers – who are increasingly capable of bypassing protective national policies by using the Communitys rules of law.

EU foreign policy through the lens of practice theory: A different approach to the European External Action Service

There is a proliferation of works on the new European External Action Service (EEAS). Most of these approach the EEAS through a rationalist framework, assessing how a new institution can solve long-term questions of EU foreign policy-making to ensure consistency and coherence while reducing transaction costs between actors (both supranational and national) in a multilevel governance structure. This paper takes a different direction. Using 30 interviews with officials from the EEAS, the European Commission, and national ministries of foreign affairs, conducted between 2010 and 2013, it shows how the study of practice aids understanding of the nature of the EEAS. As a new institution, the EEAS lends itself particularly well to practice-based study because new institutions must develop new practices. The first section of the article defines the notion of practice and shows the importance of historicizing the struggles around practices in understanding the creation of the EEAS. The second section demonstrates how agents’ practices shape professional cultures within the EEAS. The third section highlights the relationship between practices and rule-making. Going over the EEAS as a case study, the conclusion focuses on the importance of analysing actors’ practices for understanding the current evolution of diplomacy and international relations in general.

Senior Diplomats in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs: When an Entrance Exam Still Determines the Career

SummaryThis article highlights the specificity of the recruitment of senior diplomats (Advisers) in France since 1970. The idiosyncratic character of the French situation resides in the lack of a single examination. The diversity of ways by which a senior diplomat can enter the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (FMFEA) leads to the coexistence within the ministry of two main groups — the ENA diplomats (that is, from the National School of Administration, the Ecole Nationale d’Administration) and the so-called ‘Orient’ diplomats — each defending specific interests and roles within the French Quai d’Orsay. The kind of entrance exam that you take still determines careers in the French MFA. The pillarization of the career has nevertheless decreased since the 1990s, because the necessity to cope with common external challenges (such as budgetary cuts) has reinforced a shared identity among French senior diplomats.

Differentiation as a double-edged sword: : member states’ practices and Brexit

The reform of the eurozone and the concerns surrounding a potential ‘Brexit’ has given rise to a new debate about differentiation but also disintegration in the European Union. This article provides a theoretical and analytical approach to understanding how differentiation is related to the debate on distribution of competences across various levels government. It finds that differentiation has played an important role in the EU integration process since the 1950s, even though the risk of fragmentation has always existed. Facing the benefits and costs of differentiation, the member states have developed their own practices. Three ideosyncratic groups of member states can be identified in this regard: first, a group of Anglo-Scandinavian member states which refuse centralization of the EU; a Franco-German group which considers the integration through the promotion of a ‘core Europe’; and, third, a group of central and east European member states who fear that differentiation would set their interests aside and relegate them to second-class status within the EU. Finally, Brexit is not only about the status of the UK in the EU, but casts deeper questions on how to clarify the nature of relations between the eurozone and the EU as a whole.

French foreign and security challenges after the Paris terrorist attacks

ABSTRACT The Paris terrorist attacks in January and November 2015 have changed the relationship between French society and security. For the first time since the end of the Second World War, the assumption that France is experiencing a new form of territorial war is explicit in the public debate. It has reinforced the strong conviction among the French politicians and diplomats that security requires close cooperation with the USA and a renouncement of the Gaullist paradigm of exceptionalism. This paper analyses why the terrorist attacks have been perceived in France as a form of territorial war. Second, it explains why terrorism contributes to a growing mistrust of the French public vis-à-vis the European Union. Finally, it shows the reasons but also the limits of French military activism outside Europe, in close connection with the US-led strategy.

Federalism, Paradiplomacy and Foreign Policy: A Case of Mutual Neglect

Paradiplomacy, federalism and international negotiation are increasingly prevalent phenomena that require more theoretical attention. Successful mobilization of non-central governments has increased their relevance on the international stage. The rise of paradiplomacy complicates conditions for both international negotiation and the formulation of foreign policy in federal regimes. Westphalian state diplomacy is finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the proliferation of ad hoc and informal arrangements that bind non-central governments. The international arena is inhabited by an ever larger number of players that sometimes have significant autonomy from the central state.

20 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Freedom is the New Common Narrative of Europe

The current feeling of political crisis in the European Union is fuelled by a dual evolution that began in 1989. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the failure of the totalitarian venture, the prospect of accession for Central and Eastern European States to the European Union became an event of prime importance. This evolution very soon became double-edged, however, as the unification of the continent was immediately coupled with anxiety at the time of the break-up of former Yugoslavia. The “end of the story” was accompanied in parallel by a doubt with regard to the future, or, in any case, the feeling that events taking place were totally unique1. It is in this context that the idea of “crisis” developed. In her book Between Past and Future, Hannah Arendt defines the notion of “crisis” as an unprecedented situation, introducing a break from the past that would no longer provide the resources to think of the present and find one’s bearings in the future2.

Les élections européennes en République tchèque : anatomie d'une réticence

Un mois apres que leurs pays eurent fait leur entree officielle dans l’Union europeenne, les populations d’Europe centrale ont ete appelees a elire leurs representants au Parlement europeen. En Republique tcheque, la campagne electorale a surtout ete dominee par la critique des reformes engagees par le gouvernement en place pour repondre aux demandes de l’Union. Comment interpreter la faible mobilisation de la population ? Quelles significations donner aux scores des partis d’opposition dont le discours est plus ou moins ouvertement eurosceptique ? Enfin, doit-on voir dans l’exemple tcheque des traits specifiques aux nouveaux adherents ou simplement la manifestation de tendances plus generales, caracteristiques de l’ensemble des Etats membres ?