Conference Agenda

Session
EU External Relations 01: European External Governance
Time:
Monday, 02/Sept/2024:
9:00am - 10:30am


Presentations

The EU-Brazil Strategic Partnership and its Implications in Brazil’s Regional Role

João Mourato Pinto1, Laura C. Ferreira-Pereira2

1Reserch Center in Political Science, University of Minho, Portugal; 2Reserch Center in Political Science, University of Minho, Portugal

The European Union's (EU) Strategic Partnerships (SP) are the dimension of the Common Foreign Security Policy (CFSP) geared towards ten countries considered fundamental to increase the EU’s global actorness. Although Brazil was not initially in Brussels' sights, the Brazil Country Strategy Paper (2005) and the signing of the SP (2007) would eventually place the country among the EU's main partners.

The creation of this partnership stems from a recognition of the global role that Brazil had been acquiring, evident in its diplomatic activism in forums such as the BRICS. It was also a way of exploring trade relations with Brazil, given the difficulties of reaching an agreement with the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). It was also a way of associating two actors with values based on the defense of multilateralism and human rights.

These factors are linked to the important leadership role that Brazil has taken on in South American regional integration processes, especially since the beginning of the century. As this European recognition has not been awarded to any other country in the region, questions arise about the potential imbalances caused in the relations built by Brazil around its three regional foreign policy circles: the one that takes shape on the Buenos Aires-Brasilia axis and which is the basis of South American regional integration; the one constituted by the Southern Common Market (Mercosur); and the one that corresponds to South America as a de facto region, which until recently functioned de jure in the context of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

That said, the Brazilian case is a relevant case study since among the ten SPs established by the EU so far, it is paradigmatic in the use of regional leadership with global objectives. From this point of view, although the SPs were created as an instrument to empower the EU in a changing international scenario, this aspect could reveal the existence of unexpected consequences in some regions of the world.

Given the important recent changes in relations between the EU and Brazil, especially regarding the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur, this research aims to understand whether the singularization of Brazil as the EU's preferred partner in South America has had consequences for Brazil's regional positioning. It is a contribution to the general study of the European Union's external action and the potential unforeseen consequences of its Strategic Partnership policy.



The EU's External Governance: A Case Study of Air Transport

Dominika Furtak

Jagiellonian University, Poland

The proposed paper discusses the evolving impact of the European Union on global governance, focusing on the air transport sector as a critical case study. Drawing from the intersection of literature on the EU's influence on third countries and international organisations, and the architecture of the rule-making processes, the study explores the presence of an experimentalist turn in the EU's external governance activities. Embedding the economic, environmental, and political dimensions of the aviation sector, the study delves into the blending or clashing of governance elements and assesses the coherence of the EU's approach. Thus, the paper contributes to the substantive understanding of the EU's actions in the domain of international aviation. Additionally, it adds to theoretical discussions on the forms of governance proposed by the EU in response to new societal pressures and challenges.



Let's try: Labor Standards in Free Trade Agreements as an Experiment

Pawel Frankowski

Jagiellonian University, Poland

This proposed paper explores an alternative perspective on the inclusion of labour standards in European policies, employing the concept of experimental governance in European integration. It contends that the expansion of labour standards' competence aligns with the neo-functional model of the European Union's development, characterized by continual competency expansion and growing interdependencies. However, the text argues that promoted labour standards have political and economic elements resulting from processes beyond European decision-makers' influence. Two factors support this argument: the continued responsibility of member states for labour standards and the sociological approach to European integration analysis. The latter emphasizes the Commission's focus on power, prestige, and authority, making power and governance phenomena more noticeable when supranational and intergovernmental integration concepts clash. Ultimately, this alternative perspective calls for a broader analysis of labour standards in the context of multiple approaches. The paper has been based on extensive semi-structured interviews conducted in Brussels, Vietnam, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Mexico, South Korea, Canada, and Australia with negotiators or officials involved in EU FTAs negotiations.