With a base in Ian Manners’ theory about Normative Power Europe – that the European Union is to be seen as a normative power instead of a civilian or military – this paper seeks to contribute to the discussion about identity by examine the normative elements of the union’s policies towards Russia between 1997 and 2013. Which norms are most important and how does the diffusion look? The findings show that democracy, rule of law and respect of human rights are among the most diffused norms, and this is more than often done by using the Russian interest in economic progress. Over time the European Union has taken on a more critical approach against Russia, while still appreciating their prosperous relation when it comes to trade and energy. The union balances between asserting its identity by the diffusion of norms on one hand, and maintaining a pragmatic relationship on the other, which leaves the identity issue as still a very complex question.

This thesis deals with the discussions on the ‘Normative Power Europe’ thesis, EU enlargement, conditionality and compliance, and the extent to which rational and ideational forces are mutually exclusive in this context. Through a qualitative case study of Turkey, it will investigate to what extent the EU can be seen as possessing and exercising normative power through its enlargement policy. The findings, based on fieldwork conducted in Istanbul during April 2013, suggest that rather than being mutually exclusive, rational and normative processes occur simultaneously and independently, sometimes even reinforcing each other.

The purpose of this study is to present if it is the EU’s dissemination of norms or other factors that affects Kosovo’s accession as a candidate country to the EU. The purpose was answered by finding out to what extent Kosovo can meet EU standards and values in terms of the Copenhagen criteria first criterion of stable institutions. Furthermore, what forms of dissemination the EU have used in trying to spread these standards. The study has used a main theory called Normative Power Europe, by Ian Manners, which describes the EU as a normative force and its mechanism of spreading values towards third-party countries. The conclusion in this study is that the biggest factor in why Kosovo isn’t a candidate country to the EU is because of the state’s infected conflict with Serbia.The conflict with Serbia is the basis of all the factors that keeps Kosovo to fail to meet EU requirements. Although, the EU have made improvements constitutionally since its increased commitment after 2008, the constitution hasn’t been implemented in practice by the Kosovan regime. The conflict needs to be resolved before Kosovo can take the next step and adapt to the rest of Europe.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 the Moldovan government has become both fragile and unpredictable. With a high susceptibility to external pressures, the country has fallen into a limbo between democracy and autocracy and is today classified as a hybrid regime. Since Moldovas entry to the EU's Neighborhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership in 2008, the country's sensitivity to social and political change has become evident. The EU has acted as a normative power in the country in several ways by pursuing a neighborhood policy that seeks to consolidate European norms. This study aims to explain how the EU can be seen as a normative power in Moldova through the theoretical framework of Normative Power Europe (NPE). The thesis also aims to descripture how the EU uses the five basic principles of NPE regarding peace, freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law as normative guidelines for influencing the country's political direction. A conclusion can be drawn that the EU appears to be using the neighborhood policy tools to consolidate European norms through sanctions, association agreements and treaties, thus keeping Moldova's political development in an iron fist.

The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent the European Union (EU) functions as a market power in the case of conflict mineral regulation. Previous research by Partzsch has shown that the EU response to conflict minerals only somewhat qualifies for the EU to be seen as a normative power. There appears to be a clash between the norms of sustainable development and economic development, which could explain why the EU does not fully qualify as a normative power. Another theoretical framework has thus been chosen to explain the EU’s function in the case of conflict minerals. This theoretical framework is Market Power Europe (MPE) by Damro, which does not look to the collective norms of the EU, but rather on the market-related policies that the Union uses to influence other actors. With the use of an ideal type analysis of EU policy and official documents, this study found that the case fills the criteria to function as a market power in the case of conflict minerals.

Why Serbia’s path towards EU membership has been so contentious and fraught with difficulty? Why did Europeanization happen more ‘smoothly’ in some countries, while it stalls or fails in others? This study shows Serbia’s reluctance to Europeanize by exploring how the Serbian ruling elite received the EU’s norms of peace, media freedom and rights of migrants and refugees. As such, it contributes to the emerging research agenda on norm diffusion and Normative Power Europe. Through an analysis of key public statements of Serbian political leaders over the past four years, the present thesis examines how politicians discursively framed EU’s ideas, standards and normative convictions within the Belgrade-Pristina normalization dialogue, in light of the refugee crisis and in terms of media freedom. The findings indicate that the Serbian governing elite has responded differently to the EU’s normative influence in different policy domains with resisting and rejecting certain norms while adopting and adapting other. In general, the thesis evaluates that despite the significant efforts of the EU to export its ideas and values, it has only had a limited effect on Serbia. I conclude that these results further cast doubt on the future of Serbia’s accession to the EU.

This paper analyse how two agreements can be understood to facilitate the normative power (NP) of the EU by illuminating how they can enable four different NP mechanisms and thus influence and shape Ukraine’s notions and norms concerning energy security (ES). The study it draws on information from two agreements, i.e. Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Energy Partnership of 2016 (MoU) and the treaty establishing the Energy Community (TEC). If we understand NP as the ability to define what passes for normal and that NP suggests that the EU exerts influence by shaping the values and behaviour of other actors by redefining international norms in their own image. Then these two agreements are interesting as they constitute a nexus between the EU and Ukraine which could potentially enable that power as they can proliferate norms and notions of the EU concerning ES. Considering how the TEC has the goal to extend their principle and rule of the EU and how the MoU is created with the EU´s energy union as reference point the agreements might enable that influence This paper combines critical discourse analysis (CDA) with an ideal type analysis where the four NP mechanism constitute the analytical tool. The study reveals how the agreements can enable the EU´s NP by facilitating the NP mechanism, as they manage to proliferate the norms and notion of the EU. However, the aptitude of the different NP mechanism differ between the two agreements. Additionally, the study also reveals how the application of this ideal type is more suitable for examining organisation rather than agreements alone, as the full spectrum of the NP mechanisms potential cannot be illuminated. Although, the study reveal how agreements could be understood as potential tools, even if they don’t enable all NP mechanism equally.

This thesis paper is based on Ian Manners Normative Power Europe-theory with a focus on EU’s military operation in Somalia. By examining documents from EU institutions in the form of reports concerning EU NAVFOR – Operation ATALANTA – EUTM Somalia – EUCAP NESTOR. This study shows that the Normative Power Europe-theory can get expressed and that the EU continues its normative statements in Somalia. This result is an interesting contribution to the theory of Normative Power Europe witch have gotten a lot of critic about how a military operation should effect and diminish the theory.

The abolition of the death penalty lies at the core of the EU’s human rights agenda. Iraq, a long-term partner of the EU, has one of the highest execution rates in the world. Despite the plethora of policies, agreements and strategies of the EU in its relations with Iraq, the death penalty remains unbridled and in widespread use. With human rights and the EU’s abolitionist policy constituting essential elements of the EU’s relations with third countries, it is vital to examine the extent to which this is the case in its relations with Iraq. The legitimacy of the EU as a leading promoter of the universal abolition of the death penalty is at stake. This thesis examines the subject of human rights promotion in the EU’s external actions with Iraq, focusing on the EU norm of the abolition of the death penalty. The EU as a ‘normative power’ in its relations with Iraq is analyzed. This thesis aims to answer the following questions: How has the EU’s foreign policy towards Iraq aligned with its normative objectives and human rights priorities? To what extent is the EU limited in its ability to promote the abolition of the death penalty in Iraq? The focus is on the period from 2004 onwards, as this marked the beginning of official EU-Iraq relations. The thesis concludes that the EU’s normative power is and will remain limited in its ability to bring about normative change as long as the Iraqi community and society continue to accept the death penalty as an appropriate punishment. Therefore, the EU must continually maintain its strong opposition to the death penalty by consistently addressing the death penalty in the documents with Iraq, working with the local community and civil society, and taking concrete action to provide for alternative punishments.

This thesis examines constraints of the EU’s engagement in the frozen conflicts of the South Caucasus, namely, the Abkhazia, the South Ossetia, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts. The study begins with a puzzle in which the EU’s ambition for prioritizing the resolution of frozen conflicts mismatches with the reality related to the status quo of frozen conflicts. By using an abductive reasoning in an observed surprising fact, the research highlights that the complexity of the region can be the main contributor to the EU’s limitations.   With this purpose, the ENP as a normative power of the EU is analyzed to identify how the EU is attempting to be a major actor in the region in order to secure its borders. Subsequently, the limitations of the EU in engaging in frozen conflicts are examined from ‘security dilemma’, ‘balance of power’ and ‘bandwagoning’ neorealism perspectives together with a comparative study on the three conflicts. The results show that the complexity of the region is a principal constraint for the EU. In particular, geopolitical rivalries with Russia and small states with their alliances contribute to the complexity of the region. However, this study also explores the idea that the complexity of the region is not only the best explanation for the EU’s limitations, but also the EU’s structure per se creates a lack of credibility with relations to the respective Caucasian states. For future studies, I suggest that the analysis of the social learning mechanism of the EU will be an asset for understanding the region and avoiding Eurocentric approaches towards Caucasian political systems and people. Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, policymakers can consider that it is possible to change the EU’s low profile either by having clear strategies concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or replacing one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group with the EU.