Jan Orbie is a Professor at the Department of Political Science and member of the Centre for EU Studies at Ghent University. His research focuses on EU external relations. Address: Universiteitstraat 8
B - 9000 Gent
Belgium
The purpose of the conference was to bring stakeholders from academia, civil society and politics... more The purpose of the conference was to bring stakeholders from academia, civil society and politics together to discuss analysis and visions on the future of trade and international economic cooperation. The presentation was part of the opening panel of the conference, 'From neoliberal to geopolitical trade?' It raises a number of questions on the so-called geopolitical turn of trade politics. Why has the window of opportunity through the covid-19 crisis not allowed for more progressive trade polics? ; (how) can the 'geopolitical turn' be used to advance progressive trade politics?; what actually does ethical trade politics entail? ; and if we know that modern trade relations have always been geopolitical, how may the trading system be decolonized? We also identity two traps that complicate the advancement of progressive trade politics, namely the "Oxfam Trap" and the "Masculinity Trap". De/postcolonial and postdevelopment perspectives may contribute to more fruitful thinking about these questions.
... wereld. Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 2... more ... wereld. Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 290783. Record Type, journalArticle. Author, Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent University Jan.Orbie@UGent.be. Title, Europa als civiele macht? ...
... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 290785. R... more ... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 290785. Record Type, journalArticle. Author, Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent University Jan.Orbie@UGent. be; Dries Lesage [801001254993] - Ghent University Dries.Lesage@UGent.be. ...
... Record Details. Record ID, 320462. Record Type, journalArticle. Author, Dries Lesage [8010012... more ... Record Details. Record ID, 320462. Record Type, journalArticle. Author, Dries Lesage [801001254993] - Ghent University Dries.Lesage@UGent.be; Bart Kerremans; Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent University Jan.Orbie@UGent.be. ...
Ga onmiddellijk naar paginanavigatie. As of July 1st 2010, only records submitted with full text ... more Ga onmiddellijk naar paginanavigatie. As of July 1st 2010, only records submitted with full text will be accepted in the academic bibliography. more info. Error: You do not have the rights to download this document. Paginanavigatie. ...
... Een ideologische en historische exploratie. Please use this identifier to cite or link to thi... more ... Een ideologische en historische exploratie. Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 165424. Record Type, journalArticle. Author, Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent University Jan.Orbie@UGent.be. Title, De antiglobaliseringsbeweging? ...
... Record Details. Record ID, 375005. Record Type, conference. Author, Jan Orbie [801001560848] ... more ... Record Details. Record ID, 375005. Record Type, conference. Author, Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent University Jan.Orbie@UGent.be; L TORTELL. Title, The EU and ILO Relationship: a Case Study of GSP Labour Standards Conditionality. Publication Status, published. ...
... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 290788. R... more ... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 290788. Record Type, bookChapter. Author, Dries Lesage [801001254993] - Ghent University Dries.Lesage@ UGent.be; Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent University Jan.Orbie@UGent.be. ...
... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 410824. R... more ... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 410824. Record Type, bookChapter. Author, Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent UniversityJan.Orbie@UGent.be. Chapter Title, A civilian power in the world? ...
Contents: Preface A civilian power in the world? Instruments and objectives in European Union ext... more Contents: Preface A civilian power in the world? Instruments and objectives in European Union external policies, Jan Orbie The European Union's role in world trade: harnessing globalisation?, Jan Orbie The European Union's international development policy: leading and benevolent?, Jan Orbie and Helen Versluys European Union humanitarian aid: lifesaver or political tool?, Helen Versluys The external dimension of EU asylum and migration policy: expanding Fortress Europe?, Steven Sterkx Legal power and normative sources in the field of social policy: normative power Europe at work?, Tonia Novitz Green civilian power Europe?, Edith Vanden Brande The external dimension of EU competition policy: exporting Europe's core business?, Angela Wigger EU external energy policies: a paradox of integration, Andrei V. Belyi 'Everybody needs good neighbours': the EU and its neighbourhood, Viktoriya Khasson, Syuzanna Vasilyan and Hendrik Vos Civilian power Europe and Eastern enlargement: the more the merrier?, Eline De Ridder, An Schrijvers and Hendrik Vos Index.
The purpose of the conference was to bring stakeholders from academia, civil society and politics... more The purpose of the conference was to bring stakeholders from academia, civil society and politics together to discuss analysis and visions on the future of trade and international economic cooperation. The presentation was part of the opening panel of the conference, 'From neoliberal to geopolitical trade?' It raises a number of questions on the so-called geopolitical turn of trade politics. Why has the window of opportunity through the covid-19 crisis not allowed for more progressive trade polics? ; (how) can the 'geopolitical turn' be used to advance progressive trade politics?; what actually does ethical trade politics entail? ; and if we know that modern trade relations have always been geopolitical, how may the trading system be decolonized? We also identity two traps that complicate the advancement of progressive trade politics, namely the "Oxfam Trap" and the "Masculinity Trap". De/postcolonial and postdevelopment perspectives may contribute to more fruitful thinking about these questions.
... wereld. Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 2... more ... wereld. Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 290783. Record Type, journalArticle. Author, Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent University Jan.Orbie@UGent.be. Title, Europa als civiele macht? ...
... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 290785. R... more ... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 290785. Record Type, journalArticle. Author, Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent University Jan.Orbie@UGent. be; Dries Lesage [801001254993] - Ghent University Dries.Lesage@UGent.be. ...
... Record Details. Record ID, 320462. Record Type, journalArticle. Author, Dries Lesage [8010012... more ... Record Details. Record ID, 320462. Record Type, journalArticle. Author, Dries Lesage [801001254993] - Ghent University Dries.Lesage@UGent.be; Bart Kerremans; Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent University Jan.Orbie@UGent.be. ...
Ga onmiddellijk naar paginanavigatie. As of July 1st 2010, only records submitted with full text ... more Ga onmiddellijk naar paginanavigatie. As of July 1st 2010, only records submitted with full text will be accepted in the academic bibliography. more info. Error: You do not have the rights to download this document. Paginanavigatie. ...
... Een ideologische en historische exploratie. Please use this identifier to cite or link to thi... more ... Een ideologische en historische exploratie. Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 165424. Record Type, journalArticle. Author, Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent University Jan.Orbie@UGent.be. Title, De antiglobaliseringsbeweging? ...
... Record Details. Record ID, 375005. Record Type, conference. Author, Jan Orbie [801001560848] ... more ... Record Details. Record ID, 375005. Record Type, conference. Author, Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent University Jan.Orbie@UGent.be; L TORTELL. Title, The EU and ILO Relationship: a Case Study of GSP Labour Standards Conditionality. Publication Status, published. ...
... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 290788. R... more ... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 290788. Record Type, bookChapter. Author, Dries Lesage [801001254993] - Ghent University Dries.Lesage@ UGent.be; Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent University Jan.Orbie@UGent.be. ...
... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 410824. R... more ... Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: Record Details. Record ID, 410824. Record Type, bookChapter. Author, Jan Orbie [801001560848] - Ghent UniversityJan.Orbie@UGent.be. Chapter Title, A civilian power in the world? ...
Contents: Preface A civilian power in the world? Instruments and objectives in European Union ext... more Contents: Preface A civilian power in the world? Instruments and objectives in European Union external policies, Jan Orbie The European Union's role in world trade: harnessing globalisation?, Jan Orbie The European Union's international development policy: leading and benevolent?, Jan Orbie and Helen Versluys European Union humanitarian aid: lifesaver or political tool?, Helen Versluys The external dimension of EU asylum and migration policy: expanding Fortress Europe?, Steven Sterkx Legal power and normative sources in the field of social policy: normative power Europe at work?, Tonia Novitz Green civilian power Europe?, Edith Vanden Brande The external dimension of EU competition policy: exporting Europe's core business?, Angela Wigger EU external energy policies: a paradox of integration, Andrei V. Belyi 'Everybody needs good neighbours': the EU and its neighbourhood, Viktoriya Khasson, Syuzanna Vasilyan and Hendrik Vos Civilian power Europe and Eastern enlargement: the more the merrier?, Eline De Ridder, An Schrijvers and Hendrik Vos Index.
There is a wide-ranging consensus that co-ordination in development policy is needed for aid effe... more There is a wide-ranging consensus that co-ordination in development policy is needed for aid effectiveness. However, our research reveals a number of surprising and significant gaps in existing scholarship. Development co-ordination in Palestine has not been researched and the phenomenon of aid co-ordination as “shielding” against domestic contestation remains underexamined. This article aims to provide a better understanding of the “risk shielding” dynamic in European development co-ordination through four case studies. It envisages theoretical insights on the “shield effect” and specifically: (a) how cracks may entail co-ordination collapse; and (b) which conditions influence the continuation of such donor co-ordination schemes. The pragmatic and inductive research strategy is based on 74 expert interviews in Jerusalem and Ramallah in 2017 and 2019, which are triangulated with primary sources, existing evaluations, verification meetings and secondary literature. We examine four cases that vary in terms of successfulness. Coincidental variation between and within the cases allows us to infer theoretical insights. While donor co-ordination in Palestine has often been pursued in order to shield against contestation, an opposite dynamic can also emerge whereby one donor succumbs to pressures and thereby contaminates the entire donor group. Our article provides an empirically grounded theorization of co-ordination schemes’ sustainability by identifying: (a) a five-stage script of how domestic contestation may erode the shield; and (b) three conditions for sustainable co-ordination. Finally, we make suggestions for further research, for instance from a politicization perspective. Before engaging in far-reaching co-ordination schemes, donors should consider the possible impact of domestic contestation within fellow donors and the creation of additional protective belts through international organizations. While donor consortia seem to be useful shields against attacks, they may put a heavy burden on all donors involved. Donors that are confident about domestic support should therefore consider going it alone. While Palestine constitutes a unique context, we expect that domestic contestation of aid will grow and hence that the “shielding” purpose will become increasingly relevant.
This conclusion reflects on the contributions to this volume from a post-colonial perspective. Al... more This conclusion reflects on the contributions to this volume from a post-colonial perspective. Although the colonial origins of EU development policy and its continuing relevance are generally assumed, the implications of this are often underexposed. After presenting the “post-colonial challenge” for the study of EU development and international partnership policies, I introduce and apply the decentring framework as proposed by Fisher-Onar and Nicolaïdis (2021). Within each of the three steps in this model – provincialization, engagement, and reconstruction – I clarify what it implies for EU development studies, then link it to critiques of existing literature, including contributions in this volume, and indicate how authors point at some promising avenues forward. Finally, I argue that further research on the EU’s role towards the Global South should also account for injustices and alternatives within Europe.
The European Commission’s new trade policy review promises more assertiveness and enforceability.... more The European Commission’s new trade policy review promises more assertiveness and enforceability. While aligning with the ambition to become a geopolitical actor, it is unclear how this bodes for trade justice. Focusing on the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapters in EU free trade agreements, a number of critical questions can be raised on the putative benefits of a more muscular approach.
Labour standards provisions within the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters of EU Fre... more Labour standards provisions within the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters of EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are presented as a key element of the EU's commitment to a 'value-based trade agenda'. But criticism of TSD chapters has led the European Commission to commit to improving their implementation and enforcement, creating a critical juncture in the evolution of the EU's trade-labour linkage. This contribution synthesizes findings from academic studies that have examined the effectiveness of labour standards provisions in EU FTAs. It then considers the reform agenda as presented by the European Commission, and explains how some of the proposals could tackle failures identified. However, it also argues that there are various limitations with the Commission's current proposals, and outlines how legal obligations and institutional mechanisms created by trade agreements could better be harnessed to improve working conditions and rights at work around the world.
This study critically reflects on the involvement of civil society actors in the sustainable deve... more This study critically reflects on the involvement of civil society actors in the sustainable development chapters of recent EU trade agreements. It discusses how civil society mechanisms may legitimise the underlying neoliberal orientation of the agreements through co-optation of critical actors. Starting from a critical perspective and drawing on evidence from innovative survey data, qualitative interviews and participatory observations, it concludes that, despite overall criticism, there is no clear evidence of co-optation. While being aware of the risks their participation entail, EU participants take a constructive position. Nevertheless, diverging perspectives between non-profit and business actors risk reinforcing existing power asymmetries.
This paper aims to assess the framing of adaptation in the development discourse of the European ... more This paper aims to assess the framing of adaptation in the development discourse of the European Union (EU). Theoretically, three frames (security, growth and justice/equity) are constructed. Overall, we find clear traces of the EU’s normative aspirations as a global actor. Instead of framing climate change as a national or global security threat, human security implications of climate change are emphasised, representing it as a threat to individual livelihoods. Justice/equity considerations are also voiced, acknowledging the disproportionate impact of climate change on developing countries. In terms of agency, we find mostly a global, top-down framing of adaptation in developing countries.
Background: This article assesses the global health policies of the European Union (EU) and those... more Background: This article assesses the global health policies of the European Union (EU) and those of its individual member states. So far EU and public health scholars have paid little heed to this, despite the large budgets involved in this area. While the European Commission has attempted to define the 'EU role in Global Health' in 2010, member states are active in the domain of global health as well. Therefore, this article raises the question to what extent a common 'EU' vision on global health exists. Methods: This is examined through a comparative framing analysis of the global health policy documents of the European Commission and five EU member states (France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Denmark). The analysis is informed by a two-layered typology, distinguishing global health from international health and four 'global health frames, ' namely social justice, security, investment and charity. Results: The findings show that the concept of 'global health' has not gained ground the same way within European policy documents. Consequently, there are also differences in how health is being framed. While the European Commission, Belgium, and Denmark clearly support a social justice frame, the global health strategies of the United Kingdom, Germany, and France put an additional focus on the security and investment frames. Conclusion: There are different understandings of global/international health as well as different framings within relevant documents of the EU and its member states. Therefore, the existence of an 'EU' vision on global health is questionable. Further research is needed on how this impacts on policy implementation. Implications for policy makers • Global health is a not well-defined policy concept. Consequently, it has been framed in different ways by the European Union (EU) and its member states. • The European Commission and its member states have different policies to further global health objectives. While some of them take a more comprehensive approach combining domestic and foreign policy objectives, others maintain an international health approach to be pursued via development cooperation. • The existence of a common 'European' vision on global health is questionable. Before outlining a so-called EU vision on global health, European policy-makers should engage in deliberations on what exactly their global health policies imply. • European member states that still hold to a traditional 'international health' approach should consider the modernization towards a 'global health' paradigm, in line with advances in global health thinking at the level of the EU, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international institutions. • Countries engaging in a global health approach should be careful that interest-based motives (security and investment) are in balance with social justice considerations. • While the EU is increasingly trying to coordinate the European action in global health it is not clear yet where these coordination efforts are leading to. Given the diversity in approaches, a 'division of labor' that acknowledges existing differences between the EU and its member states may be more feasible than a 'common' EU policy. Implications for the public Global health policy development by the European Union (EU) and its member states has been pursued in diplomatic, administrative and professional policy-maker's circles. While the general public may be actively involved in policy dialogue on health policies at the national level, such as in the field of health insurance and budgetary choices, this is much less the case when it comes to global health objectives. Nonetheless, it has been increasingly recognized that global health issues also affect the population of European countries (for instance, but not exclusively, trough risks related to epidemics such as Ebola). The EU's democratic legitimacy problem is also seen in the global health domain. If the EU and its member states aim to further advance an 'EU role in Global Health' it is important to facilitate dialogue on health priorities, strategies and policies at the national and EU level. Deliberation should include civil society, professional networks and citizens in general, within the EU as well as abroad, as health challenges are transnational and require close cooperation to overcome them.
Although the EU has shown a strong ambition to put a distinctive stamp on the international aid a... more Although the EU has shown a strong ambition to put a distinctive stamp on the international aid agenda over the past 15 years, it has also been pointed out that its policies suffer from a series of collective action problems. This article explores how both relate to one another. This article examines the EU's normative distinctiveness in contrast to the World Bank, focusing on policy norms in the field of governance, aid effectiveness and social development. We argue that collective action problems do not necessarily hamper EU distinctiveness: they are also a symptom of a strong EU desire to pressure European actors to come up with norms that pacify disagreements.
How has EU trade policy responded to the protracted economic crisis starting in 2008? Unlike duri... more How has EU trade policy responded to the protracted economic crisis starting in 2008? Unlike during the Great Depression of the 1930s, politicians have not resorted to protectionist measures to try to contain the downturn. The response has been just the opposite, with the dominant discourse arguing that in times of austerity and private deleveraging, trade liberalisation is indispensable for restoring growth. Adopting a historical-institutionalist perspective, we argue that the crisis has had an asymmetric effect on the two most important subsystems of EU trade policy. On the one hand, the EU took a leap forward on the path of bilateral free trade liberalisation by starting negotiations with the US, Canada and Japan. On the other hand, proposals to continue with permissive reforms for the adoption of trade defence measures and to give the EU more leverage vis-à-vis emerging economies have been blocked. We thus conclude that EU trade policy after the crisis has shown asymmetric continuity, where the liberalisation trend has been resumed more radically while accompanying defensive reforms to ease the potential pain of liberalisation have run into a stalemate.
One of the chapters lacking in the TTIPleaks is on ‘Trade and Sustainable Development’. This is a... more One of the chapters lacking in the TTIPleaks is on ‘Trade and Sustainable Development’. This is an interesting issue area because the advocates often argue that this chapter will help ensure that TTIP upholds and strengthens social and environmental standards. However, the credibility of this claim depends on how strong this chapter will eventually turn out to be. A leaked consolidated text could have given us an indication of this. In this short piece, we speculate about the possible outcomes in this area. We focus primarily on labour provisions. However, our conclusions to large extent also apply to environmental provisions in TTIP. While these provisions touch upon a wide variety of issues related to sustainable development, many concern areas of social and environmental risk regulation, such as with regard to health and safety at work or trade in and environmentally sound management of chemicals and waste. In the next section, we explain that the EU and the US have different approaches to the inclusion of labour provisions in free trade agreements (FTAs). We then argue that these two approaches can be integrated in a lowest common denominator or a highest common denominator way (this should rather be seen as a continuum of potential outcomes), and we outline what we already know about TTIP in this area. We conclude that if the negotiators want to live up to their promise that TTIP will have beneficial social and environmental effects they should integrate the EU and US approaches at the highest level.
In recent years policy coherence for development (PCD) has become a key principle in internationa... more In recent years policy coherence for development (PCD) has become a key principle in international development debates, and it is likely to become even more relevant in the discussions on the post-2015 sustainable development goals. This article addresses the rise of PCD on the Western donors’ aid agendas. Although the concept had already appeared in the work of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in the early 1990s, it was not until 2007 that PCD became one of the Organisation’s key priorities. We adopt a complexity-sensitive perspective, involving a process-tracing analysis and a multi-causal explanatory framework. We argue that the rise of PCD is not as contingent as it looks. While actors such as the EU, the DAC and the OECD Secretariat were the ‘active causes’ of the rise of PCD, it is equally important to look at the underlying ‘constitutive causes’ that enabled policy coherence to thrive.
Au cours de ces dernières années, la cohérence des politiques pour le développement (CPD) est devenu un principe clé dans les débats internationaux sur le développement, et il est susceptible de devenir encore plus pertinent dans les discussions sur les Objectifs de Développement Durable de l’après-2015. Cet article traite de la montée de la CPD à l’ordre du jour de l’aide publique au développement des bailleurs de fonds occidentaux. Bien que le concept figurait déjà dans le travail de Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques (OCDE) dans les années 1990, il a fallu attendre 2007 pour que la CPD ne devienne l’une des principales priorités de l’OCDE. Nous adoptons un point de vue sensible à la complexité, impliquant (i) une analyse de reconstitution de processus et (ii) un cadre explicatif multi-causalité. Nous soutenons que la hausse de la CPD n’est pas aussi contingente qu’il n’y paraît. Alors que les acteurs tels que l’Union européenne (UE), le Comité d’Assistance au Développement (CAD) et Secrétariat de l’OCDE étaient les «causes actives» de la hausse de la CPD, il est également important de regarder les «causes constitutives» sous-jacentes qui ont permis à la cohérence des politiques de prospérer.
The establishment of the United Nations Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) is widely regarded as... more The establishment of the United Nations Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) is widely regarded as a major challenge for the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. While many observers expect the DAC’s development role in international development to be diminishing to the benefit of the DCF, no studies have been devoted to this topic. This article addresses the impact of the establishment of DCF on the DAC. Through a combination of semi-structured interviews, document analysis and participatory observations, we conduct a comparative analysis of both institutions to asses their input, output and throughput legitimacy. Our findings show that the DCF does not pose a threat to the DAC. We argue that (i) the debate has neglected the effectiveness and decision-making cultures of both institutions and (ii) the gap between the DAC and DCF in terms of inclusiveness has become less pronounced than is often suggested.
La création du Forum pour la coopération en matière de développement des Nations Unies (FCD) est considérée par beaucoup comme un défi majeur pour le Comité d’aide au développement (CAD) de l’Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques. Bien que de nombreux observateurs s’attendent à ce que le rôle du CAD dans le développement international diminue au profit de le FCD, aucune étude n’a été consacrée à ce sujet. Cet article traite de l’impact de la création du FCD sur le DAC. Grâce à une combinaison d’entretiens semi-structurés, l’analyse de documents et d’observations participatives, nous procédons à une analyse comparée des deux institutions afin d’évaluer les investissements qu’elles demandent et leurs produits ainsi que leur légitimité. Nos résultats montrent que le FCD ne représente pas une menace pour le CAD. Nous soutenons que ( i ) le débat a négligé l’efficacité et les cultures de prise de décision des deux institutions et ( ii ) l’écart entre le CAD et FCD en termes d’inclusion est devenu moins prononcé que ce que l’on suggère souvent.
This article examines the European Union's (EU's) full membership of the Development Assistance C... more This article examines the European Union's (EU's) full membership of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). More specifically, we address (1) why the EU became a full member of the DAC in 1961, long before the EU was granted legal competences for development policy, and (2) why this membership status has remained unaltered over the past half-century, despite persistent dissatisfaction among both EU and non-EU members of the DAC. By applying historical institutionalism, we find that the initial decision on the EU's membership status in the DAC created a path dependence that was impossible to reverse afterwards, despite changing internal and external circumstances.
In the last decade the EU has embarked on a series of deep and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement... more In the last decade the EU has embarked on a series of deep and comprehensive Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Each of these agreements includes a chapter on trade and sustainable development, encompassing labour (and environmental) provisions. Against the background of increased liberalisation and rising attention paid to sustainable development, EU FTAs set up civil society mechanisms to advance the implementation of these commitments. While civil society meetings have become increasingly important in practice, the assessment of their success differs widely among actors. While some see it as a 'fig leaf' or 'talking shop', others are more optimistic about its potential to empower marginalised groups within EU trading partners. Evaluations will continue to diverge as long as the exact purposes of the civil society meetings have not been clarified. This chapter is a first attempt to uncover the purposes behind them. By combining a content analysis on the legal texts and political discourse we identify four analytically distinct purposes: instrumental (gathering support for the FTA), functional (monitoring and information gathering on the implementation), deliberative (promoting democratic governance) and policy influence (advising the governments). We do not aim to prioritise one purpose over another. However, we do argue that the primordial purpose of the mechanisms should depend on the domestic setting of the trade partner country and on the matureness of the mechanism.
European Union (EU) trade policy has become increasingly contested and politicised. Citizens and ... more European Union (EU) trade policy has become increasingly contested and politicised. Citizens and politicians have become more and more concerned about the human rights and sustainable development implications of free trade. The European Commission in its ‘Trade for All’ Strategy has recognized the need for a more value-based trade policy. In the same vein, the EU has included a chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development in recent free trade agreements. However, there is still much uncertainty about the specifics of these legal commitments and about their implementation in practice. In this study, we aim to assess the labour rights commitments in the EU-Peru-Colombia agreement, with a specific focus on Peru and the agricultural sector. Based on an analytical framework that summarises the labour-related commitments of the sustainable development Title into three categories – upholding ILO Core Labour Standards, non-lowering domestic labour law, and promoting civil society dialogue – we conclude that Peru has failed to comply in a number of areas. We also make recommendations for the EU and civil society and suggestions for more profound and systematic research.
This article investigates the relationship between the European Union’s withdrawal of trade benef... more This article investigates the relationship between the European Union’s withdrawal of trade benefits for developing countries under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) and
its sanctions under the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Our expectation is that GSP withdrawals and CFSP sanctions will not cohere. However, our research reveals
that GSP suspension has been coherent with CFSP sanctions when the latter exist prior to the decision-making process on GSP sanctions and when the International Labour Organisation has set up a Commission of Inquiry condemning the country, as with Myanmar/Burma and Belarus. The presence of separate institutional frameworks explains the GSP suspension towards Sri Lanka in the absence of CFSP sanctions.
This chapter aims to provide a concise overview of evolutions in European Union (EU) trade policy... more This chapter aims to provide a concise overview of evolutions in European Union (EU) trade policy towards developing countries. In line with the general purpose of this volume, it also considers the importance of Commissioner Cecilia Malmström’s Trade for All (2015) strategy in this regard.
The transformation of the international trade regime became patently clear at the 2003 Cancún Sum... more The transformation of the international trade regime became patently clear at the 2003 Cancún Summit of the World Trade Organization (WTO), where the emerging economies formed the G20 group in reaction to an EU–US pre-agreement in the agriculture arena. The failure of Cancún marked the end of the dominance of Western powers shaping the future governance of international trade unilaterally. In a context of growing multipolarity, the Doha Development Round (DDR) has continued to muddle on without clear prospects of completion. This chapter examines the EU’s response to this new context. It argues that the EU first took on an accommodation strategy towards the emerg- ing powers. First, it accepted them in the core decision-making groups of the Doha negotiations (the so-called New Quad, the Five Interested Parties, the G6 and the G7). Second, it dropped the Singapore issues and made several concessions to their demands in the agricultural area. Third, it launched the Global Europe trade approach that focused on free trade arrangements with them. In 2009, however, the EU shifted its strategy towards entrenchment. It announced that it would not be offering further concessions to emerging powers. Moreover, the EU radicalised its free trade strategy, engaging in free trade negotiations with Japan, Canada and even the US, much to the discontent of China. This shift from accommodation to entrenchment suggests that the lat- ter is a second-best option for the EU. It is partly the result of factors that could not be controlled by the EU. Moreover, it signifies a different, more dangerous and less straightforward way to pursue a multilateral agreement.
While the inclusion of labour rights in European Union (EU) trade agreements has become an 'unobj... more While the inclusion of labour rights in European Union (EU) trade agreements has become an 'unobjectionable norm', analyses of their impact have been largely absent from the literature. This article aims to partly fill this gap in existing research by examining the impact of labour rights commitments in the EU–Peru–Colombia agreement, with particular reference to the agricultural sector in Peru. Following a brief background overview of labour rights in agriculture in Peru, we draw up the analytical framework for assessing the impact of these commitments. We discern three distinctive legal commitments and find that they are flexible and conservative, also compared to provisions in other EU trade agreements. Subsequently, we assess the impact of these commitments by analysing to what extent they are being upheld in practice. Empirical evidence from several sources, including field research, shows that the Peruvian government has failed to implement the labour rights commitments in several respects. In the conclusions, we point to the cautious role of the EU, which has scope to monitor Peru's labour rights compliance more proactively.
The European Union (EU) has always been a major actor in development policy. Paradoxically, howev... more The European Union (EU) has always been a major actor in development policy. Paradoxically, however, literature on development policy within the discipline of EU studies is relatively limited in terms of quantity and relatively light in terms of theorizing. Perhaps this is because its complexities – as will be shown in this chapter – make it particularly challenging to study EU development policy. Against this background, we argue in this chapter that an abductive research strategy is well-suited to study EU development policy. Abduction basically involves the continuous interaction between theory and empirics. Hence the objective of this chapter is twofold: (1) arguing why abduction is useful and even necessary for studying EU development policy, and (2) concretely illustrating how this can be done in practice.
In dit hoofdstuk betogen we dat de Europese ‘rolconceptie’ de voorbije vijftien jaar geëvolueerd... more In dit hoofdstuk betogen we dat de Europese ‘rolconceptie’ de voorbije vijftien jaar geëvolueerd is van een normatief model naar een geopolitiek realistische grootmacht. In het eerste deel wordt de discursieve evolutie meer uitgediept, met verwijzingen naar het politieke en academische discours. Vervolgens zoomen we dieper in op twee centrale domeinen van het Europees extern beleid: handel en ontwikkeling.
Uploads
Au cours de ces dernières années, la cohérence des politiques pour le développement (CPD) est devenu un principe clé dans les débats internationaux sur le développement, et il est susceptible de devenir encore plus pertinent dans les discussions sur les Objectifs de Développement Durable de l’après-2015. Cet article traite de la montée de la CPD à l’ordre du jour de l’aide publique au développement des bailleurs de fonds occidentaux. Bien que le concept figurait déjà dans le travail de Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques (OCDE) dans les années 1990, il a fallu attendre 2007 pour que la CPD ne devienne l’une des principales priorités de l’OCDE. Nous adoptons un point de vue sensible à la complexité, impliquant (i) une analyse de reconstitution de processus et (ii) un cadre explicatif multi-causalité. Nous soutenons que la hausse de la CPD n’est pas aussi contingente qu’il n’y paraît. Alors que les acteurs tels que l’Union européenne (UE), le Comité d’Assistance au Développement (CAD) et Secrétariat de l’OCDE étaient les «causes actives» de la hausse de la CPD, il est également important de regarder les «causes constitutives» sous-jacentes qui ont permis à la cohérence des politiques de prospérer.
La création du Forum pour la coopération en matière de développement des Nations Unies (FCD) est considérée par beaucoup comme un défi majeur pour le Comité d’aide au développement (CAD) de l’Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques. Bien que de nombreux observateurs s’attendent à ce que le rôle du CAD dans le développement international diminue au profit de le FCD, aucune étude n’a été consacrée à ce sujet. Cet article traite de l’impact de la création du FCD sur le DAC. Grâce à une combinaison d’entretiens semi-structurés, l’analyse de documents et d’observations participatives, nous procédons à une analyse comparée des deux institutions afin d’évaluer les investissements qu’elles demandent et leurs produits ainsi que leur légitimité. Nos résultats montrent que le FCD ne représente pas une menace pour le CAD. Nous soutenons que ( i ) le débat a négligé l’efficacité et les cultures de prise de décision des deux institutions et ( ii ) l’écart entre le CAD et FCD en termes d’inclusion est devenu moins prononcé que ce que l’on suggère souvent.
its sanctions under the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Our expectation is that GSP withdrawals and CFSP sanctions will not cohere. However, our research reveals
that GSP suspension has been coherent with CFSP sanctions when the latter exist prior to the decision-making process on GSP sanctions and when the International Labour Organisation has set up a Commission of Inquiry condemning the country, as with Myanmar/Burma and Belarus. The presence of separate institutional frameworks explains the GSP suspension towards Sri Lanka in the absence of CFSP sanctions.