<p>The purpose with this essay was to examine how the European Union is working to</p><p>transfer norms to states they signed an agreement with and provide support for in</p><p>frame of the Barcelona process and the Tacis programme. The theory which we</p><p>used was Ian Manners (PhD in Political Science) theory of "the EU as a unique</p><p>normative power". The aim was to examine whether the EU - which Manners mean</p><p>- has had a normative power to influence states to change. We used a qualitative</p><p>approach through the use of a multiple case study and qualitative text and content</p><p>analysis. The States which formed the basis of our study were within the Barcelona</p><p>Process; Morocco and Tunisia as well as Azerbaijan and Armenia funded by the</p><p>Tacis programme. To this end, we were to answer the following questions: Can we</p><p>identify transfer of norms in the written bilateral agreements with these states, and</p><p>are there any normative demands? Can we on the basis of our study answer</p><p>whether the EU holds a normative power to influence these countries to change, in</p><p>accordance with the normative theory? The agreements that we studied was the</p><p>bilateral agreements that the EU signed with these States. In order to make</p><p>Manners five norms (peace, freedom, democracy, rule of law and human rights),</p><p>which he argues that EU is based on measurable; we used the Freedom House</p><p>freedom index, and also by a historical study the development of the country. The</p><p>results we found were the following; in all the studied bilateral agreements we</p><p>found clear - but to varying degrees - the transfer of norms. Although it differs in</p><p>degree of regulatory requirements and also in the formulation of how the country is</p><p>committed to abide by and comply with the normative requirements differ</p><p>according to the agreements, we can find the so-called "carrot and stick</p><p>relationship" that Manners believes that the EU use in the transfer of norms. Three</p><p>of the states that we investigated under the Freedom House freedom index did not</p><p>developed in a democratic way did, and the positive steps taken cannot be directly</p><p>traced back to the EU's efforts. It may also be due to other States or other forces</p><p>influence. We can’t, through our study confirm that Manners is right in these states</p><p>but we can’t either rule out the possibility that the EU through the written</p><p>agreements has changed the norms of the state in question, although progress</p><p>seems to go very slowly.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:miun-465 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Sjölander, Andreas, Lunström Schröder, Jacquline |
| Publisher | Mid Sweden University, Department of Social Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Department of Social Sciences |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, text |
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