Constructed Narratives: The EU as a foreign policy actor in its relations with China

191 Pages·2013·9.95 MB·English

Constructed Narratives:
The EU as a foreign policy actor
in its relations with China
by
Julie Pickering
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral
Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts
in
European, Russian and Eurasian Studies
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario
©2013, Julie Pickering
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Abstract
EU-China relations have intensified in the last two decades, and today are organized as
a strategic partnership that encompasses over 50 sectors of cooperation. This
relationship, and the manner in which it has been approached by the EU, reveals some of
the ways in which the latter organizes itself in its foreign policy capacity, and the kind of
actor it tries to be in this relatively new policy field. The case of EU-China relations
reveals that the EU has constructed two narratives about its actomess in foreign policy-
that of a strategic partnership, and that of normative actomess. Three cases- Market
Economy Status, the Human Rights Dialogue, and cooperation on Africa- allow us to see
the extent to which the EU presents these narratives discursively, and in a second time,
instrumentalizes them. The question is raised as to whether the EU’s discursive exercises,
as well as the actions generated by these, contribute to any substantive power or ability
to shape its relations with China.
Acknowledgements
I am deeply grateful for the research binding provided by the European Union through
the Centre for European Studies at Carleton University. This funding made possible a
research trip to Belgium, during which research for this work was conducted.
Thank you to my family and friends for all their support, without which I would not have
been able to complete this work.
To my parents, Helene and George, brothers Marc and Patrick, and friend for life Jillian
Normand, thank you for the unconditional love.
To Sara and Jason, the timing of this thesis coincides with a wonderful development in
your lives, and I am so looking forward to sharing many happy moments with your new
family.
To my advisors, Joan DeBardeleben and Crina Viju, thank you for your thoughtful
instruction and for always making yourselves available. You have both played such
important roles in my intellectual and academic development over the course of my
graduate studies, and for this I am very grateful.
I would also like to thank EURUS and Jeff Sahadeo for providing me with extensive
support and exciting opportunities over the past two years.
I would like to dedicate this work to my dear cousin Lt. Andrew Nuttall (1979-2009).
You are deeply missed and continue to be a source of inspiration to me everyday.
iv
Table of Contents
ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................................Ill
LIST OF ACRONYMS...............................................................................................................VI
1 Chapter: Introduction.............................................................................................................................1
2 Chapter: Overview of EU-China Relations.................................................................................7
2.1 History of relations........................................................................................................7
2.2 Current state of affairs.................................................................................................13
2.3 Next steps.....................................................................................................................20
3 Chapter: Theoretical Contributions..........................................................................................23
4 Chapter: The Narrative of the Strategic Partnership....................................................34
4.1 The narrative of the strategic partnership...................................................................34
4.2 Analytic features of the narrative.................................................................................40
4.3 Instrumentalization of the narrative.............................................................................54
5 Chapter: The Narrative of Normative Actorness..............................................................73
5.1 The narrative of normative actomess..........................................................................73
5.2 Instrumentalization of the narrative.............................................................................82
5.3 How do we distinguish norms from interests?.............................................................96
6 Chapter: Case studies in EU-China Relations.......................................................................107
6.1 Human rights dialogue...............................................................................................108
6.2 Market Economy Status..............................................................................................125
6.3 Cooperation on Africa................................................................................................142
1 Chapter: Conclusion............................................................................................................................157
8 Chapter: Bibliography........................................................................................................................162
v
List of Acronyms
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS)
Common Agricultural Program (CAP)
Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)
Directorate Generales (DG)
Economic Community (EC)
European External Action Service (EEAS)
European Political Cooperation (EPC)
European Security Strategy (ESS)
European Union (EU)
Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)
General System of Preferences (GSP)
Global Public Goods (GPG)
Human Rights Council (HRC)
Industrialised Countries Instrument (ICI)
International relations (IR)
Market Economy Status (MES)
Market Economy Treatment (MET)
Normative Power Europe (NPE)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA)
Report on the Implementation of the European Security Strategy (RIESS)
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (TECA)
United Nations (UN)
United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
World Trade Organization (WTO)
1 Chapter: Introduction
The EU’s relations with China have grown exponentially over the past two
decades, and today comprise one of Brussels’ most comprehensive and intensive external
relations. Officially, a strategic partnership has emerged between the two actors,
solidifying a bond based foremost on economic, but also political, social and cultural
cooperation. The EU is currently China’s largest trading partner, and China is the EU’s
second after the United States.1 This relationship is multi-vectored and based on
engagement and partnership in a multitude of policy areas. Along with a trade agreement,
there are over 50 dialogues between the two actors, dealt with in annual summits, regular
political visits and working groups.
Since 2007, negotiations have been underway for the completion of a
comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which the EU has with
many of its neighbours, including Russia, the Ukraine and Moldova. The negotiations on
the agreement- which would both update the 1985 trade agreement and unify the EU’s
strategy towards China in political, social and cultural cooperation- have been slow and
difficult, and currently seem to be stalled. This, in part, reveals different understandings
and expectations from the two parties of the relationship, its aims and motivations.
It also provides an excellent starting point for analyzing the ways in which the EU
constructs and comprehends its relations with China. This thesis argues that the EU
actually promotes two narratives in its relations with China through its high-level
1 European Commission, “Countries and Regions- China,” accessed January 2013,
thttp://ec.europa.eu/trade/creating-opportunities/bilateral-relations/countries/china/
2 European External Action Service, “China,” accessed January 2013,
http://eeas.europa.eu/china/index en.htm
1
discourse: that of the strategic partnership and that of normative actomess. The first,
while also the name given to the framework used by the EU for its political engagement
with China, is used by the EU as a narrative in its foreign policy, describing one way in
which it engages major countries like China. This narrative is implicitly found in the
EU’s official documents and pronouncements, and describes the means by which the EU
will engage both emerging and traditional powers, and how it aims to maintain the EU’s
relevance in a changing world. Specifically, the narrative relates to the EU exercising and
promoting ‘effective multilateralism’ through engagement and dialogue that will benefit
both sides. The narrative, and certainly the instrument, both focus on interest-based
engagement that will foster mutual benefits and, hopefully, increasing convergence of
interests in the long-term.
The second narrative is one of normative actomess. Identification of this narrative
is heavily rooted in academic contributions to the study of the EU’s foreign policies and
global actomess, which makes it slightly different than the first. While the EU does not
reference this narrative as a direct concept in its foreign policy documents, it uses a great
deal of normative language suggesting the use of a narrative in its discourse, which often
times mirrors themes drawn out in academic works on the EU’s role in foreign affairs.
This narrative focuses on the EU ‘bettering’ the world and adhering to certain values and
ideals because of their intrinsic quality. Many commentators propose that the EU is
unable to exercise any normative power with a state like China. As will be shown, some
of these critiques are justified, and the EU is unable to exercise much of this power
towards China. Yet the EU may still be using the narrative to describe its relations with
China, and possibly to generate actions. Furthermore, the definition of normative
2