Marek Neuman

EU–Russian Energy Relations after the 2004/2007 EU Enlargement: An EU Perspective

While voices for a more unified EU approach towards Russia to guarantee the Unions energy security grow stronger, the internal dichotomy between the energy interests of the old and the new (Central and Eastern European) member states hampers the possibility of joint action. Although an analytical thick distinction between old and new EU members often represents extensive simplification, in terms of energy policy, it is made possible by the discrepancies in their respective energy sectors, particularly over three categories. First, their energy mixes are diverse. Second, the degree to which national grids are interconnected differs greatly. Third, these two camps hold opposing perceptions of Russia as a reliable energy partner. With these differences in mind, this article proposes four possible scenarios that could develop within the European Union in terms of energy policy; the establishment of a common European Energy Policy with an external dimension; the lack of such a policy, effectively maintaining the current status quo situation; the EU expanding its energy community; and the EU becoming a nuclear energy powerhouse. Each of these potential developments is assessed for its implications on EU–Russian energy relations.

The Role of New Member States in the European Union’s External Democratization Policy: Towards an Analytical Framework

This chapter begins from the premise that – with regard to external democracy promotion – while certain traits the new EU member states share can be detected, these states certainly do not constitute a homogeneous block. To reflect the differences that exist between the new member states with regard to how they perceive and implement their external democratization policies, an analytical framework taking the shape of an external democratization matrix is constructed and put forward. This speaks directly to the Normative Power Europe framework, arguing that it is necessary to problematize the EU’s actorness by acknowledging intra-EU struggles about what the EU is, enabling one to subsequently assess what it does. This opens up new research venues, where one of the most important questions is the role the individual member states (and separate regional clusters) play in the EU’s external democratization policy. In a first attempt to uncover these roles, the empirical part of the chapter focuses on the Czech Republic, seeing how it understood democracy promotion in 2004–2008 and whether, and how, it attempted to shape the EU’s policy to be in line with its own understanding.

Introduction: EU Democracy Promotion in Its Near (and Further) Abroad Through the Prism of Normative Power Europe

As the introduction to this edited volume, this chapter reiterates the relevance of studying the European Union’s democracy promotion in its near (and further) abroad. It does so by outlining the most fundamental changes to the EU’s democracy promotion agenda – both within and without – in the past 25 years. The chapter further sets the stage for the remainder of the volume by discussing the complexity of defining democracy and democracy promotion, by outlining the book’s theoretical framework (namely Normative Power Europe), and by demarcating its geographic scope (South Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia). Finally, the volume’s individual chapters are introduced along conceptual and empirical lines.

Conclusion: The Relevance of Normative Power in a Changing Europe

The concluding chapter provides an answer to the central question of the book, whether the European Union’s democracy promotion in South Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia can be understood through the prism of Normative Power Europe and, subsequently, what insights the answer to this question offers for reconceptualizing NPE itself. The chapter does so in two steps. In the first step, it summarizes the empirical conclusions established throughout the book regarding the process and effects of the EU’s democratization policy in the studied regions. In the second step, it draws from these conclusions to rethink Normative Power Europe from both a conceptual (what it is) and operational (how it should be studied) point of view.

Framing the Debate: The Evolution of the European Union as an External Democratization Actor

Embedded in the Normative Power Europe framework, this chapter first identifies three critical junctures that are essential to understanding the approach the EU has developed with regard to its external democratization agenda: (i) the end of the Cold War, (ii) the 2004 EU enlargement to the East, and (iii) the events surrounding the Arab Spring in conjunction with the European economic crisis. Next, the chapter delineates four main dimensions of the contemporary EU approach to external democratization: direct programs and instruments, the indirect economic approach, international and regional coordinating approaches, and a multilevel approach with the member states.

The Visegrád Group as a Vehicle for Promoting National Interests in the European Union: The Case of the Czech Republic

Abstract This contribution asks whether sub-regional integration projects such as the Visegrád Group may be understood as mechanisms for pursuing one Group member’s national interests while it stands at the European Union’s helm. I assess this question based on the case of the first Visegrád Group member to assume the EU Council presidency: the Czech Republic. Examining three specific policy areas – the reinvention of the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood policy; the strengthening of EU energy security; and the incorporation of a stronger human rights and external democratisation approach into EU foreign policy – this case study presents a mixed picture. It confirms the potential of the Visegrád Group to be a vehicle for furthering the national preferences of one Group member while it holds the rotating EU Council presidency. Whether or not this potential is fully realised will depend primarily on the degree to which the interests of the four Visegrád countries converge.