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What
kind of role(s) does the EU play in international governance? Is the
EU so influential to compel its partners to comply with EU standards? Is
the EU able to export the norms which regulate the EU political and
economic development model? Is
the EU able to promote human rights and democracy through
regional cooperation? In order to tackle these questions the Module
of European Political Integration EU Roles in International Governance
will illustrate
the multiplicity of roles the EU plays in the international
environment.
This
module draws upon the assumption that the EU as a multilevel political
system is projecting to the global governance its internal variety,
i.e. the coexistence of different institutions, agencies, experts,
interest groups, together with national interests and players within
the Union polity. The Module is based on the most advanced researches within
the European Political Integration field
which assume that it is not possible to single out a single EU
international political body, thus the notion of a unique role which
implies a clear, coherent and cohesive EU international role would be
misleading.
Accordingly,
this Module on
the EU international action
aims to train the students of the Faculty of Political Science of the
University of Catania on the
multiplicity of roles the EU plays. The module will offer the
analytical and conceptual tools linked to the EU’s actions in the
international governance and will strengthen the students’ awareness
on these new developments within the European Political Science.
The
workshops of the European Module enter into the debate on the
responsibilities the EU has to endorse in the global governance and
the challenges it faces in a changed world. This topic has emerged as
one of the most relevant issues within the European Union Politics
subject and is endorsed by several EU documents. Some EU documents
illustrating the paths for new roles the EU can play in international
politics can be briefly mentioned. The European Commission’s White
Paper on the European Governance of July 2001 raised the need for the
Union to “seek to apply the principles of good governance to its
global responsibilities”. The Laeken Declaration on the Future of
the EU adopted in December 2001 urged the EU to play “a stabilising
role worldwide”, exporting the EU “humane values” which include
– inter alia - human
rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy, respect of diversity, etc.
More recently, the Title V on the Union’s external action contained
in the Constitutional Treaty seeks to offer a general framework for
the EU to act as: a multilateral actor, a human rights and democracy
promoter, a security-provider, a stabilizer of the EU neighbourhood.
The
wide range of actions and roles the EU conducts and plays in the
international governance will be illustrated through this European
module. The module will allow the students to acquire specific
knowledge on EU external roles and will help them to develop critical
and analytical skills in order to understand the new challenges the EU
institutions face in the international governance.
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