Since the end of the Cold War, the promotion of democracy has occupied centre stage in global politics and in the academic debate on international relations. Governments, intergovernmental agencies, and international donors have invested significant resources towards supporting the democratic consolidation of fledgling democracies. The European Union (EU), which is the largest aid donor in the world, has been no exception to this trend. This book focuses on the development aid provided by the EU to the South African democracy during its first ten years of life. EU Democracy Aid is the first book to empirically analyse the EU policy towards South Africa, which has been the most longstanding and comprehensive European democracy promotion initiative in a single country and an important test- bed for the EU’s effectiveness and credibility as a global democracy promoter. Building on the EU’s declared goal to promote democracy ‘from below’, this study explores the potential of micro- level projects aimed at ‘deepening’ democracy through grassroots civil society organizations operating in marginalized communities, where abusive and authoritarian practices often outlive the advent of democracy. It will be of interest to students and scholars of civil society, democracy, economics, development studies, European Union studies, political sociology, and international relations.

European Political Cooperation in the 1980s :: a common foreign policy for Western Europe?

European Union Democracy Aid

The dialogue of the EC/Twelve with other groups of states

The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed on 13 December 2007 and entered into force on 1 December 2009, has made extensive changes to the legal framework governing the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). In fact, not a single provision of Title V of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) dealing with the CFSP has remained unaffected by the most recent round of treaty revision. In addition to making numerous substantive and institutional amendments, the Lisbon Treaty has also recast the legal instruments available for the conduct of the CFSP. In the past, the Union could rely on three specific instruments in this area: common positions, joint actions and common strategies. In an attempt to simplify this line-up, the Lisbon Treaty has now replaced these three instruments with a single legal act: Union decisions.

Decisions on Operational Action and Union Positions: Back to the Future?

European political co‐operation and member state diplomatic missions in third countries — findings from a case‐study of South Africa

During the EPC period, joint action represented the most advanced form of collaboration between the MS in the implementation of agreed policies. Since the EPC never developed its own dedicated legal instruments, joint action was put into effect through informal decisions made collectively by the MS and as such is best described as the practical output of their intergovernmental cooperation.

European Political Cooperation in the 1980s :: a common foreign policy for Western Europe?

Citations

European Union Democracy Aid

The dialogue of the EC/Twelve with other groups of states

Decisions on Operational Action and Union Positions: Back to the Future?

European political co‐operation and member state diplomatic missions in third countries — findings from a case‐study of South Africa

Article 28 [Council Decisions on Operational Action]

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