Greece and Spain in European Foreign Policy

The Influence of Southern Member States in Common Foreign and Security Policy

Dimitrios Kavakas

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000160314
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politica e relazioni internazionali
• Subtopic: Politica

This title was first published in 2001: This in-depth analysis of the foreign policy behaviour of Greece and Spain, draws conclusions on the role and influence that the two southern member states have had at different times. Dimitrios Kavakas concentrates on four aspects: the history; adaptation of domestic structures; patterns of behaviour in participation of the Common Foreign Security Policy (CFSP); and the issue of securitization. Allowing the reader to explore other aspects apart from the study of foreign policy of European Union member states, this invaluable work will find an audience among research and masters students as well as undergraduates. It is also suitable for courses of European foreign policy, comparative policy analysis and specialist courses on politics, international relations and European studies.

1 Introduction

Foreign policy cooperation in the European Union (EU) has taken the form of concentration of national foreign policies. From the early development of European Political Cooperation (EPC) to the formation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), national foreign policies have followed a process of adaptation to a structure of common approaches that allowed for enhanced cooperation. The common approach was the willingness of the founding Six of the European Community to achieve peace and stability in Europe during the Cold War. The structure constituted a method of producing a common position for negotiations for the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). This was a method of cooperation in foreign policy through ministerial meetings so that the EC would be represented as one negotiator rather than six.¹ Although EU Member States largely retained their sovereignty in foreign policy-making, the changing nature of the EU policy-making meant that decisions and developments in any EU state increasingly became part of the domestic policy arena. Just as domestic politics directly influence the foreign policy of a Member State, similarly, developments in the EU institutions or any of the Member States have the same effect. The development of a European foreign policy can be described as a two-way relationship. On the one hand, the progress of integration has developed a European domestic environment, which is a factor that influences the national foreign policies of Member States. On the other hand, to a varying extent from one state to another, the different national foreign policy priorities influence the European environment and the efforts to develop an EU common foreign policy. Taking into account this complex relation, this book looks at how national foreign policies influence the Common Foreign and Security Policy in the EU. The argument of this book is that national foreign policy behaviour affects the influence of the State in CFSP. This book studies whether and how the geopolitical situation of the state, its domestic political environment, and its political orientation and participation in Europe condition the State’s foreign policy behaviour in CFSP. It can be argued that this forms a circle of influence where the above factors affect national foreign policy behaviour, the latter conditions State influence in CFSP, which in turn, has an impact on the initial factors. The European political environment has an impact on these factors and results in changes in the national foreign policy. This book studies the levels of interaction between national and European foreign policy. Its objective is to determine the level of influence that a Member State can have, and the extent to which changes in the factors mentioned above could alter this level of influence. In defining influence, it can be argued that it is the relationship between two actors that modifies the behaviour of one actor because of the position of the other. Essentially, this book tests whether endogenous and exogenous factors can alter the variables mentioned above and thus affect foreign policy behaviour.

Case Studies

This book deals with two Member States of the EU, Greece and Spain. There are several reasons why these two Mediterranean Member States have been chosen as the case studies of this book. As southern Member States, they are characterised by limited structural power. This means that the capability and scope of their foreign policy is limited compared to Member States such as the UK, France and Germany who have long-standing extensive networks of foreign policy. The term ‘southern’ is not taken in the strict geographical sense but in a more political sense, referring to states with limited resources and structural power. However, despite this, they are states that have strong priorities and perceptions of national interest in foreign policy compared with other Member States, such as Ireland, Belgium and Denmark. Greece and Spain entered the European Community in the 1980s after a period of transition to democracy which followed the end of dictatorial regimes in both countries. During the accession negotiations and also since their eventual membership, foreign policy and security have been prime concerns of both states in the European development.

Apart from obvious similarities between the two states and their common differences with other Member States, Greece and Spain have a number of differences which make them interesting for comparison. The first difference is size, both in terms of geography and population. By comparing a large with a small state, this book examines the possible relevance of size in determining the degree of influence of the national foreign policy in CFSP. However, one argument is that size is not the prime determinant of influence in the cases of Greece and Spain. Instead, the geopolitical situation of Greece and Spain and their surrounding environments have an important impact upon their influential activity, regardless of their size. The two case study countries have been selected in order to test this assumption, since in geographical terms Spain is a large state and Greece a small one. For this reason this book focuses on these two states and does not include Portugal, another small state which otherwise meets the criteria as a southern Member State. The second difference has to do with domestic politics.² As argued, the domestic political environment has an important impact upon foreign policy behaviour.³ This book tests whether factors in domestic politics have a direct impact upon influence in the European foreign policy structure, to the extent that behaviour patterns affect the influence of the state in CFSP. Upon entry into the European Community, the Greek and Spanish domestic political forces each reacted in a different way. In Greece, the political parties were divided into pro-EC and anti-EC, while in Spain there was a consensus between all political forces in favour of Spain’s accession. The differences in the shaping of domestic factors in the two Southern Member States affected the domestic political debate on Europe and might have an impact upon the country’s behaviour and political orientation. This book looks at whether this has been one of the reasons why Greece and Spain have followed different policy strategies in participating in the EC/EU and particularly in European Political Cooperation (EPC). However, the distinct political orientations of the two governments is a difference in itself. In the early 1980s, both Greece and Spain experienced a change of government. Socialist governments took control of the two traditionally right-wing countries. Both the Greek and the Spanish socialist parties wanted to bring about a change from the past, which had been dominated by a lack of democracy, social injustice and foreign policy dependence. However, to achieve their aims, the two political leaders, Andreas Papandreou in Greece and Felipe Gonzalez in Spain, followed very different routes. Papandreou endeavoured to achieve democracy and independence through keeping a distance from his European partners and promoting a different policy for Greece, while Gonzalez saw the same values as achievable through the total integration of Spain in the European framework. That is why this book looks at personalities as factors which might influence the political orientation and the participation patterns of the Member State in European foreign policy.

This book tries to test whether there are three different sets of contradictions between the two states. The first being nationalist versus Europeanist behaviour, the second, cooperation versus a confrontational attitude, and the third, compromise versus national victory pursuit.

Structure of the Book

This book is divided into two parts. The first part gives an extensive historical account of the development of European foreign policy and the participation of Greece and Spain in its shape and function. This is important because it provides the background and lays the foundation on which it builds on in the second part.

Part I

Chapter 2 The second chapter provides the context to European foreign policy development. The cases of Greek and Spanish foreign policies are both examined within the framework of European Political Cooperation and with the purpose of evaluating state attitudes towards the development of political integration and towards European foreign policy action in different cases. The priorities and behaviour of the two states compared with the outcome lead to conclusions about the degree of influence which they have exercised.

This chapter follows the origins and development of European foreign policy from EPC to CFSP. It looks at the integration process in foreign policy between the Member States and outlines the events, but also analyses the reasons and driving forces behind these developments. It can be noted from the chapter that in the cases where there was a collective action, it was for the benefit of all Member States. However, in cases where such collective action was not possible, it was because of the dominant position and interest of one or more Member States that contradicted the anticipated common position. In a collective action, Member States that are not in a position to exercise a high profile foreign policy on the international stage can find themselves influencing the collective outcome through the EC’s institutional arrangements. The two southern Member States that are the subject of this book are as such. In the absence of a consensus, these Member States can find themselves marginalised or isolated if they disagree with the dominant position. If the objection to the collective action comes from a state like Greece or Spain, these states can become further marginalised, something that does not happen in the case of the powerful states. Therefore, it may be the case that Member States such as France and the UK can go alone in foreign policy with fewer consequences than states such as Greece and Spain.

The discussion of the structural characteristics of European foreign policy in this chapter tests the argument that, from the development of an institutionalised and integrated European foreign policy, Greece and Spain benefit in their degree of influence and in their priorities. This chapter ends with a discussion on the input the two states have had into the institutional reform of EPC and CFSP, as well as their priorities and preoccupations for a supranational development at the time of accession and during the institutional reforms.

Chapter 3 The third chapter continues setting the historical background that is necessary to analyse the foreign policies of Greece and Spain. However, it is focused directly on the two states. Having set the general picture of European foreign policy cooperation in the second chapter, the third looks at the participation of Greece and Spain in political cooperation since their accession to the European Community. The purpose of this chapter is to look at the major issues of foreign policy, both in the European framework and in the individual relations of Greece and Spain, and to analyse their policies, priorities and attitudes in these cases. The aim is to provide an evaluation of the degree of influence that Greece and Spain have exercised in each of the cases or periods of time. This chapter also makes an assessment of the reasons behind the difference in the degree of influence at different periods of time and between the two countries.

This chapter looks at a number of major issues of foreign policy in three periods of time. The first runs from the beginning of the 1980s and the accession of Greece to the EC, to the Single European Act and the accession of Spain in 1986. In this period it examines the first years of Greek interaction in the EPC, its ideological differences and the peculiarities of its attitude. It also looks beneath the surface of the expressed or enacted policies to look for the mainly domestic factors that shaped this attitude and policies. The second period goes from 1986 to the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. This period is characterised by the institutionalised EPC and the changes in Eastern Europe. The Greek stance changed during this period from anti-European to Euro-sceptic, while Spain made an impact in its first years in European political cooperation with its euro-enthusiasm. The chapter analyses the behaviour of both countries, examines the reasons for the different attitudes and evaluates their impact.

The final period follows the Maastricht Treaty to its revision in Amsterdam in 1997. This period sees the development of CFSP and the disintegration of Yugoslavia together with other changes in Central and Eastern Europe. During that period since the Treaty on European Union there has been a process of Europeanisation of national foreign policies. This chapter looks at different cases in that period to evaluate the level of convergence of the national foreign policies of Greece and Spain to a common European approach.

These two chapters set the historical background of the argument. The assessment of the participation of Greece and Spain in the formation and expression of European foreign policy is necessary to test the validity of the argument. The third chapter in particular tests whether Greece and Spain, through the European institutions, can increase their influence in the construction of common policies and also their role as actors in international relations, since CFSP gives them the opportunity to influence world politics.

Part II

Chapter 4 After the historical setting, the fourth chapter looks at the domestic political environment of the two Member States. It focuses on the adaptation process of national foreign policy to the European Union. The objective is to see how foreign policy is formed and executed and to identify the factors that influence its formation. This chapter intends to develop the foundations of the argument by looking at the domestic origins of foreign policy formation. It studies the way in which membership of the EU has affected the domestic factors that shape foreign policy. This has taken place in different degrees and varies according to the area. The main three areas under consideration are: (1) the administration of foreign policy; (2) the policy formation; and (3) the execution of policy action. The purpose of this chapter is to test whether the domestic political environment to a certain degree shapes foreign policy behaviour. In order to do that, this chapter examines the relationship between domestic factors and foreign policy action. This is a two-way relationship since there is interdependence between them as the one influences the other. The domestic environment helps shape foreign policy and the latter affects domestic developments.

From the existence of an adaptation process to its influence upon foreign policy behaviour, the Europeanisation of foreign policy is a major concern of the fourth chapter. If domestic factors are important for shaping foreign policy behaviour and these factors change due to the adaptation process, then according to the degree of adaptation achieved, the foreign policies of Greece and Spain follow a process of convergence to the European Union. This chapter aims to study this process of convergence and identify the areas where this has not taken place or took place to a lesser extent. It examines the factors that hindered the adaptation process and discusses the areas in which differentiation between national foreign policy and European common policy still exists. The objective is to test the proposition that this differentiation is more likely to occur when there is a low degree of adaptation, and also that a continuing differentiation from the common European position causes the isolation of the Member State and feeds the nationalist elements in its national foreign policy-making.

Chapter 5 The fifth chapter moves from the domestic sphere and policy formation to focus directly on foreign policy action and particularly its development in the framework of European foreign policy. This chapter is a continuation of the argument that was given in the first two chapters on a historical basis. It tests the argument that constructive participation, which is participation that attempts to construct consensus in CFSP decision-making through the institutions of CFSP, can result in an increase in the role and degree of influence of Greece and Spain, both in the EU and in their regional or international bilateral relations. This is done by weighing the evidence from the cases of foreign policy involvement. Since the attitude of constructive participation requires an integrationist political orientation, this chapter studies governmental policies towards further integration in foreign policy. These policies can change according to the political party in power and so this chapter pays particular attention to the ideology of the government and important personal figures that have influenced the political orientation of the Member State.

Additionally this chapter looks at different forms of participation in European foreign policy. It covers the involvement of Greece and Spain in Intergovernmental Conferences which shape the structure and instruments of CFSP. It also looks at their occupation of the office of the Presidency of the European Council. It examines the foreign policy initiatives that Greece and Spain have taken and the ability that they show to come up with such initiatives. Foreign policy initiatives can take different forms. They can either be part of the institutional responsibilities of the Presidency or they can arise from the priority that the Member State gives to a particular foreign policy issue. Also, these initiatives can be taken within the framework of CFSP, trying to generate a European response, bilaterally or unilaterally outside its scope. The argument of this chapter is that constructive participation is related to the ability to take successful initiatives in CFSP in the sense that participation patterns generate a reputation for the Member State. This in turn has an impact on its ability to succeed in taking initiatives.

Finally this chapter aims to test whether a developed reputation of constructive participation increases the chances and the opportunities of successful initiatives. It also addresses whether such a reputation makes consensus possible because of the process of convergence of national foreign policy implemented by constructive participation. To the extent that the above arguments are valid, the likelihood of success in foreign policy initiatives is influenced by two factors. The ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Dedication
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations
• 1. Introduction
• Part I
• Part II
• Bibliography
• Annex 1
• Annex 2
• Annex 3
• Annex 4