Europeanisation and the European security and defence policy: the case of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

This thesis seeks to develop an under-researched area of Europeanisation theory, namely the link between the ‘export’ dimension of Europeanisation and the European Union’s (EU) external crisis response instruments, and specifically the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). It examines the theory of Europeanisation and its relevant dimensions for this thesis, defining ‘Europeanisation’ in this context as the export of European values, principles, structures, ideas and norms beyond the geographical borders of the EU. The thesis sets out to test whether ESDP operations can provide a vehicle for Europeanisation in the countries in which they are deployed. It examines the evolution of European Union security and defence policy and the evolution of the EU’s operational military and civilian mission instrument, and employs case studies of operations in a specific country context in order to test whether ESDP operations can indeed be a practical mechanism with the potential to export the EU’s norms and principles. The thesis employs case studies of three ESDP missions conducted in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYROM) - the military operation Concordia, and police missions Proxima and EUPAT. It explores whether these EU external instruments had a Europeanisation dimension, and whether and how in practice they contributed to Europeanisation. fYROM makes a germane case study as a new country emerging from crisis, on the EU’s border, and in line for prospective future EU membership. The case studies show that the primary effect of the military operation Concordia, in contributing to the country’s security and political stabilization and providing a visible and symbolic EU presence, was to provide a platform for subsequent Europeanisation. The follow-on Proxima and EUPAT civilian operations carried a more direct Europeanisation agenda and effect, playing an important role in transferring the EU’s approach to addressing causes of conflict and contributing as part of the EU’s wider efforts to promoting the integration of fYROM in the EU. The thesis concludes that ESDP operations can be a vehicle for exporting European values, principles and norms, and as such, a promoter of Europeanisation beyond the EU’s borders. This research can contribute to deepening the area of Europeanisation theory concerned with export dimensions of the theory, and suggests there is academic value in examining the Europeanisation aspects of EU external instruments, including civilian and military operations in other case study contexts, including in countries well beyond the EU’s neighbourhood. The research also highlights the value for the EU of conceptualising the ESDP mission instrument through a Europeanisation lens, in terms of maximising the transformative potential of the instrument as part of wider EU strategy to pursue normative, security and political objectives in its neighbourhood and the wider international sphere.