Europeanisation of National Foreign Policy:
The Case of Britain
Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang
PhD candidate
School of Global, Urban and Social Sciences
The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Organisation of the presentation
1.
Understanding Europeanisation
2.
Defining Europeanisation of Foreign Policy
3.
Europeanisation of Foreign Policy: The Case of Britain
4.
Concluding remarks
Understanding Europeanisation

‘Europeanisation’: a ‘hotly contested’ term.

General agreement: Europeanisation as a force for
change in politics, policies and polities of the EU.
However, a consensus on consistent measurement and
analysis of such changes has not been reached.
Understanding Europeanisation

In the early studies: Europeanisation is mainly perceived as a
‘bottom-up’ process.

From the late 1990s: More research has placed emphasis on
exploring the impacts of European integration on member states
and how they adapt to Europe: Europeanisation is mainly viewed as
a ‘top-down’ process.
Understanding Europeanisation

The recent years have witnessed the scholars’ efforts to
explore the conceptual linkage between the bottom-up
and top-down dimensions.

A widely-accepted definition: ‘Europeanization denotes
a complex interactive ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ process
in which domestic polities, politics and public policies
are shaped by European integration and in which
domestic actors use European integration to shape the
domestic arena.’ (Dyson and Goetz, 2003).
Defining Europeanisation of Foreign
Policy

In their work ‘The Foreign Policy of the European Union’
Keukelire & MacNaughtan describe that
‘the relationship and interacting processes of foreign
policy on the national level and foreign policy on the EU
level are often labelled as ‘Europeanisation.’ (Keukelire
& MacNaughtan 2008, p.142)
Defining Europeanisation of Foreign
Policy

National Adaptation-(Downloading/Top-Down) Member
States are subject to influences and stimuli from the EU.

Outcomes: Changes of national institutions, processes,
ideas and policies due to practices, rules, objectives and
norms adopted or prescribed at the EU level.
Defining Europeanisation of Foreign
Policy

National
Projection-(Uploading/Bottom-Up)
Member
States seek to influence EU foreign policy and the
foreign policies of other Member States.

Outcomes:
Exporting of national policy preferences,
policy models and ideas onto the EU level.
Europeanisation of Foreign Policy:
The Case of Britain

National adaptation is manifested mainly in some
alterations in British foreign policy stance and the
reorganization of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Europeanisation of Foreign Policy: The
Case of Britain

In parallel, national projection has been critically
implemented by British government to reduce the cost of
downloading.

As a powerful nation-state in the EU, the exporting of
British policy preferences to the EU level has been
carried out through launching initiatives in European
foreign and defence policy.
Concluding Remarks

Europeanisation has been increasingly understood as a
‘circular process’ in which ‘member states are not
passive recipients of pressures from the EU; they also
try to project national policy preferences upwards.
Concluding Remarks

The perception of Europeanisation as ‘a two-way
relationship’ constitutes a foundation to explore how
foreign policy is Europeanised.
Concluding Remarks

Regarding the foreign policy sphere, Britain has proved
itself to be a member state capable of both exporting its
concerns to the EU level and responding to top-down
pressures.