The Europeanization of National Foreign Policy: The Case of Greece (original) (raw)
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The related questions of whether there was, at long last, evidence of a European (read: EU) voice in international affairs and of how far Greek foreign policy has become Europeanised are worth considering. The former question quickly dissolved on the 'Letter of Eight', which supported the US action 7. Transatlantic relations reached a new low and the work of the European Convention on the Future of Europe in general and its debates on the CFSP and ESDP in particular encountered numerous obstacles 8. This situation led Alain Touraine to ask if 'Europe actually existed' 9. Stanley Hoffmann wrote that 'the split within the EU over Iraq is clearly a disaster' 10. 'Mr PESC/CFSP', Javier Solana, accepted that he had failed to produce a EU consensus 11. There were bitter exchanges between France and Britain, which meant that the 'Entente cordiale' had turned into an 'Entente Glaciale' 12. It also led French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin to argue that: '[w]e well understand the domestic pressure being put on the British government. But these remarks are not worthy of a friendly nation and a European partner' 13. Giles Merritt summed up the situation as follows: 'Europeans are shocked by the scale of their own disarray over the Iraq crisis, and by the depth of the rifts that have opened up inside the European Union' 14. The Greek Presidency made the most of the above as it presented its 'unbiased' position on the question of the war in Iraq as a necessary obligation that stemmed from the need to preside over the EU for the period January-June 2003. What is conveniently ignored is that Greece allowed the Americans to use its bases in Greece (mainly the US naval facilities in Souda Bay in Crete), that PM Simitis consistently stated that Greece was
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'National and European Foreign Policy' explores the processes of interaction between the national and the European levels in foreign policy making in European Union states. The volume also assesses the mutual influence which the Member States exert on each other, independent of the EU institutions, thus tracing the extent to which Member State foreign policies are being Europeanized into more convergent, coordinated policies. With chapters examining France, Germany, Italy, UK, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Finland, Poland and Slovenia, the overarching questions the volume addresses centre on the nature of the relationship between the foreign policies of the Member States and ‘European’ foreign policy. Engaging with ‘Europeanization’ with theoretical rigour, the contributors to this volume examine the EU’s impact on the foreign policies of Member States old and new, the impact of the Member States on the EU’s external relations, and the influence of the Member States on each other’s foreign policies. Providing interesting detail on changes in foreign policy thinking and national policies using the concept of Europeanization, National and European Foreign Policy will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics and policy formation, foreign policy and International Relations.
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