Assessing European Neighborhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership as a normative tool within the context of South Caucasus: the case of Azerbaijan

Mgr. Kanan Abdullayev, B.A.

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The theoretical concept of Manners advocates a peculiar role of the European Union which is not only based on values but also possesses transformative power that enforces implementation of norms in the target countries. Introduction of new initiatives such as European Neighbourhood Policy and Eastern Partnership, where the EU is able to address more specifically the normative agenda in bilateral relations increases the relevance of Manners’ concept. However, recent studies on the EU initiatives from the point of view of their normalization capabilities have raised concerns about efficiency of the EU’s normative policy setting in practice. Therefore, our research aims to enrich existing studies and literature with additional case study focused on testifying normative activities and impact of the European Union in Azerbaijan. Our research design is aiming to find answers to the following 3 questions in order to deliver findings that can be valuable for the general topic: 1. Does the European Union maintain normative agenda in the relationships with neighbourhood? 2. Does the European Union maintain normative agenda in the relationships with Azerbaijan? 3. Does the European Union evoke normative impact on the freedom of expression in Azerbaijan? To design our research correspondingly, first we will develop an elaborated theoretical framework that we will rely on throughout the thesis. As I have already mentioned Manners’ Normative Power Europe is a core concept to be used as it presents an approach which evaluates the identity of the EU from both perspectives of internal nature and external behaviour. Moreover, the concept will be used to define the categories of what we understand by normative and how we can trace them in our further analyses. For the accuracy of the sought categories it is necessary also to take into consideration a secondary literature, apart from Manners principal works.

Abstract:

The theoretical concept of Manners advocates a peculiar role of the European Union which is not only based on values but also possesses transformative power that enforces implementation of norms in the target countries. Introduction of new initiatives such as European Neighbourhood Policy and Eastern Partnership, where the EU is able to address more specifically the normative agenda in bilateral relations increases the relevance of Manners’ concept. However, recent studies on the EU initiatives from the point of view of their normalization capabilities have raised concerns about efficiency of the EU’s normative policy setting in practice. Therefore, our research aims to enrich existing studies and literature with additional case study focused on testifying normative activities and impact of the European Union in Azerbaijan. Our research design is aiming to find answers to the following 3 questions in order to deliver findings that can be valuable for the general topic: 1. Does the European Union maintain normative agenda in the relationships with neighbourhood? 2. Does the European Union maintain normative agenda in the relationships with Azerbaijan? 3. Does the European Union evoke normative impact on the freedom of expression in Azerbaijan? To design our research correspondingly, first we will develop an elaborated theoretical framework that we will rely on throughout the thesis. As I have already mentioned Manners’ Normative Power Europe is a core concept to be used as it presents an approach which evaluates the identity of the EU from both perspectives of internal nature and external behaviour. Moreover, the concept will be used to define the categories of what we understand by normative and how we can trace them in our further analyses. For the accuracy of the sought categories it is necessary also to take into consideration a secondary literature, apart from Manners principal works.

Keywords

European Union, Azerbaijan, Normative Power Europe, European Neighborhood Policy, Eastern Partnership, Freedom of expression

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 12. 5. 2015

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 4. 6. 2015
• Supervisor: Mgr. Petra Kuchyňková, Ph.D.
• Reader: Mgr. Zinaida Bechná, Ph.D.

Masaryk University

Faculty of Social Studies

Master programme / field:
Political Science / European Politics (Eng.)