European Foreign and Security Policy: States, Power, Institutions, and American Hegemony

The European Union's (EU) Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) stipulates that all member states must unanimously ratify policy proposals through their representatives on the EU Council. Intergovernmentalism, or the need for equal agreement from all member nations, is used by many political scientists and policy analysts to study how the EU achieves its CFSP. However, in European Foreign and Security Policy, Catherine Gegout modifies this theory, arguing instead for analyses based on what she terms 'constrained intergovernmentalism.' Gegout's theory of constrained intergovernmentalism allows for member states, in particular France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, to bargain with one another and to make rational decisions but also takes into account the constraints imposed by the United States, the European Commission, and the precedents set by past decisions. Three in-depth case studies of CFSP decision-making support her argument, as she examines the EU position on China's human rights record, EU sanctions against Serbia, and EU relations with NATO.

List of Tables 5 Abbreviations 6 Acknowledgements 8 Introduction: Deciding Foreign and Security Policy in the European Union - A Brief Account of CFSP 11 Part One: CFSP - Theory and Practice 34 Chapter One: Foundations for "Constrained Intergovernmentalism", a New Theoretical Approach 35 Chapter Two: CFSP - The Machinery of Decision-Making 56 Part Two: Case Studies in CFSP - The Mechanism in Action 94 Chapter Three: A Pure CFSP Case - The Condemnation of China's Human Rights Policy (1997-2005) 95 Chapter Four: A CFSP-EC Case - Sanctions Against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Spring 2000) 119 Chapter Five: A CFSP-ESDP Case - Institutional Relations with NATO (1998-2008) 152 Part Three: The Unexpected Actors in the CFSP System 179 Chapter Six: The United States - Partial Bandwagoning 180 Chapter Seven: The Commission - Modes of Intervention and Control in CFSP 204 Conclusion: "Constrained Intergovernmentalism" - A More Complete Theorisation of the CFSP System 224 Appendix. Bibliography Notes and References