The notion of Normative Power Europe (NPE) is that the EU is an 'ideational' actor characterised by common principles and acting to diffuse norms within international relations. Contributors assess the impact of NPE and offer new perspectives for the future exploration of one of the most widely used ideas in the study of the EU in the last decade.

This book presents a topical, holistic assessment of the European Union’s democracy promotion in South-East Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, analyzed through the prism of the Normative Power Europe (NPE) framework of transnational policy formation. To do so, it brings together three scholarly domains that traditionally stand apart and are discussed separately. The first addresses the notion of the European Union conducting a normatively-driven foreign policy both near and far abroad. The second is concerned with the legitimacy, operationality, and effectiveness of promoting democracy in third-world countries. The third addresses the quality of the relationship the European Union has been able to establish with some vital – yet often troubled – countries in South-East Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Finally, based on the empirical findings presented in each chapter, this volume concludes by rethinking the concept and relevance of NPE to the field’s understanding of the EU’s foreign policy making. This edited volume offers the reader both a theoretically and empirically rich analysis of the European Union’s efforts to promote democracy abroad. As such is scholars and students of EU studies, particularly EU foreign policy, as well as policy makers at EU and national level and civil society representatives responsible for designing/implementing democracy promoting projects on the ground.

This book critically engages with a long tradition of scholarly work that conceives of the European Union as a peculiar international actor that pursues a value-based, normatively oriented and development-friendly agenda in its relations with international partners. The EU is a pivotal player in international trade relations, holding formidable power in trade but also exercising substantial power through trade. Trade policy therefore represents a strategic field for the EU to shape its image as a healthy economy and a global power. In this field, the EU has declared a twofold ambitious goal, namely that of fostering economic growth in Europe while, at the same time, promoting development and growth abroad, both in developed and developing countries. In other words, the EU aims to increase its competitiveness in world trade while acting as an ethical and normative power. Here, Poletti and Sicurelli explore the tension between these two roles.

"This book examines the European Union's contribution to the development of the global climate regime within the broader framework of global justice. It argues that the procedural dimension of justice has been largely overlooked so far in the assessment of EU climate policy and reveals the EU has significantly contributed to the development of the climate regime within its broader efforts to 'solidarise' international society. At the same time, the book identifies deficits of the climate regime and limits to the EU's impact and explains why the EU policy towards global climate change has shifted over time. Finally, however, it argues that these policies should not be assessed in terms of being either wholly positive or negative, but that they are shot through with ambiguities. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of climate change, climate politics, environmental and climate justice studies, and more broadly to EU Studies and International Relations"--

By shedding light on EULEX - the EU mission to Kosovo – this open access book investigates the EU’s peacebuilding activities in that country, in the light of the normative power theory in the post-conflict setting and peacebuilding theory. Ten years after the massive engagement of the EU in the country torn by war, the authors critically assess the effects of the EU projecting its normative power – the enforcement of its standards, ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – through the EULEX mission, taking into consideration also the local aspects, so far neglected in this field of research. Inspecting thoroughly the EULEX activities in the police, customs and judiciary sector, the authors reveal that the mission can contribute to a positive change, but only in those cases which do not request a heavy political involvement and broad leverage by other international players (for example in improving standards of work in police and customs). When it comes to the most serious cases of organized crime, corruption and war crimes, EULEX, however, has not been able to address them effectively due to several internal mission’s deficiencies and external factors; the perceived ineffectiveness of EULEX among the local population led to the lowering of trust not only in this CSDP mission, but also in the EU in general. This open access book offers a comprehensive assessment of the EULEX mission, based on two Horizon2020 research projects: IECEU - Improving the Effectiveness of Capabilities in EU Conflict Prevention, and KOSNORTH – The European Union and its Normative Power in a Post-conflict Society: A Case Study of Northern Kosovo (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship). As such it is an invaluable resource for scholars, students and policymakers interested in security questions in South Eastern Europe and EU external action.

Written by leading experts in the field, this volume identifies European collective preferences and analyzes to what extent these preferences inform and shape EU foreign policy and are shared by other actors in the international system. While studies of the EU’s foreign policy are not new, this book takes a very different tack from previous research. Specifically it leaves aside the institutional and bureaucratic dimensions of the European Union’s behaviour as an international actor in order to concentrate on the meanings and outcomes of its foreign policy taken in the broadest sense. Two outcomes are possible: Either Europe succeeds in imposing a norms-based international system and thus, in this case, its soft power capacity will not only have been demonstrated but will be enhanced Or, on the contrary, it does not succeed and the global system will become one where realpolitik reigns; especially once China, India and Russia attain a preponderant influence on the international scene. EU Foreign Policy in a Globalized World will be of interest to students and scholars of European Union politics, foreign policy and politics and international relations in general.

Do the various aspects of Europe's multi-leveled public diplomacy form a coherent overall image, or do they work against each other to some extent? European Public Diplomacy pushes the literature on public diplomacy forward through a multifaceted exploration of the European case.

Contributors offer new approaches to the study of the European Neighbourhood Policy. While the main emphasis is on the empirical assessment of the impact that the ENP has had to-date and on the factors that have shaped its implementation, it also provides new theoretical and methodological perspectives on how to study this policy area.

Can Europe defend its social model in a globalized world when the US, China, India and Russia are enhancing their national sovereignties and playing power politics? This original and informative book addresses such questions and considers if Europe, although it is not a 'super state', would be able to impose norms over force.