Marja-Liisa Öberg
Senior lecturer
European Integration Outside-In: Third Country Influence on EU Law and Policy Making
Editor
- Sandra Lavenex
- Marja-Liisa Öberg
Summary, in English
The study of European integration has traditionally focused "inside-in" on the internal development of common laws and policies. With the maturing of the single market and the evolution of EU external relations, attention has shifted beyond the EU to the ways in which the EU intentionally and unintentionally projects its norms beyond its borders - the "inside-out" dynamics of European integration. This panel explores a step further in the research on EU integration: the reverse influence of third countries on EU laws and policies.
The inside-out movement was reflected in the processes of EU enlargements; the intensification of association relations with western, southern and eastern neighbouring countries which, either willingly or unwillingly, did not join the EU; and the development of EU actorness in trade, foreign and security relations. Three decades later, association relations with the EEA/EFTA countries, Switzerland, the countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), and other privileged trade partners have tightened mutual political, administrative, and legal links between the EU and the countries in its neighbourhood. The participation of third countries in the EU’s structures, programmes and policies, and their adoption of EU norms is increasingly studied alongside the EU's internal differentiation under the notion of external differentiated integration. The UK's withdrawal from EU membership has moved the country into this category of deeply interdependent third countries, giving new urgency to the search for sustainable arrangements that foster association while preserving the autonomy of both parties. An increasingly challenging geopolitical context including Russia's war against Ukraine, new East-West antagonisms as well as mounting transnational challenges such as the fight against climate change, migration policy, and energy supply have added to the importance of finding flexible solutions to sustain partnerships with associated countries.
This conjuncture of consolidating ties and sharing external challenges warrants the opening up of EU-studies towards greater attention to factors that influence the process of European integration beyond the EU and its member states. The Special Issue explores third country influence from the perspective of differentiated integration. It discusses the levels at and venues through which third countries can exert influence, and the legal and the legal constraints and political implications of these processes.
The inside-out movement was reflected in the processes of EU enlargements; the intensification of association relations with western, southern and eastern neighbouring countries which, either willingly or unwillingly, did not join the EU; and the development of EU actorness in trade, foreign and security relations. Three decades later, association relations with the EEA/EFTA countries, Switzerland, the countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), and other privileged trade partners have tightened mutual political, administrative, and legal links between the EU and the countries in its neighbourhood. The participation of third countries in the EU’s structures, programmes and policies, and their adoption of EU norms is increasingly studied alongside the EU's internal differentiation under the notion of external differentiated integration. The UK's withdrawal from EU membership has moved the country into this category of deeply interdependent third countries, giving new urgency to the search for sustainable arrangements that foster association while preserving the autonomy of both parties. An increasingly challenging geopolitical context including Russia's war against Ukraine, new East-West antagonisms as well as mounting transnational challenges such as the fight against climate change, migration policy, and energy supply have added to the importance of finding flexible solutions to sustain partnerships with associated countries.
This conjuncture of consolidating ties and sharing external challenges warrants the opening up of EU-studies towards greater attention to factors that influence the process of European integration beyond the EU and its member states. The Special Issue explores third country influence from the perspective of differentiated integration. It discusses the levels at and venues through which third countries can exert influence, and the legal and the legal constraints and political implications of these processes.
Department/s
- EU Law
- Department of Law
Publishing year
2023
Language
English
Publication/Series
Journal of Common Market Studies
Document type
Editor for a journal
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Topic
- Law
Keywords
- Autonomy
- Differentiated integration
- EU external governance
- External influence
- Foreign policy
- EU law
- EU-rätt
Status
Published
Research group
- EU Law
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1468-5965