Abstract

The High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy was first established by the Amsterdam Treaty in 1999 to enhance the effectiveness and credibility of EU foreign policy. Since its creation, this body has played different roles vis-a-vis varies policy dossiers. In some cases, the High Representative has successfully coordinated the positions of Member States and enhanced the worldwide visibility of EU foreign policy. On other occasions, the High Representative played a more proactive role by identifying and operationalizing common European interests. The varying role of the High Representative in different policy dossiers reflects the ambiguity of the EU political system. Unlike in most European states\where the executive and legislative powers are linked through the same parliamentary majority\within the EU supranational and intergovernmental sources legitimacy coexist. It is the ambiguity deriving from it that permitted the High Representative to adopt different roles in response to different external challenges. This research investigates the reasons that led the High Representative to play sometimes the role of mediator and at other times that of policy entrepreneur by examining the influence of security culture on EU foreign policy processes. Security culture is defined as the convergence of socially transmitted norms shared by the majority of political actors belonging to the EU security community. The norms constituting security culture concern the identification of security threats, the definition of the appropriate instruments to deal with them, and the interaction with the international community. The comparison of the cases of the 2001 Macedonia crisis and the negotiations over Iranfs nuclear programme reveals that shared norms.and thus the emergence of a shared culture.with regard to a given threat had an impact on policy processes involving the High Representative. In particular, the emergence of a shared security culture created a positive context which enabled the High Representative to adopt the role of policy entrepreneur, rather than simply mediating among Member States. In order to address the capability-expectations gap emerged among citizens' expectations, and EUfs ability to deliver in the field of foreign policy, scholars have long stressed the need to build stronger institutions able to constrain the powers of Member States. However, this research identifies the development of a shared vision about common security as a factual pre-condition for the empowerment of central institutions and, thus, for further integration in this field. In addition, even though the existing literature has mostly identified diverging norms on the use of force in the international arena and on the alliance with the US as the major obstacles to an effective EU foreign policy, this study suggests that another major obstacle in this regard lies in diverging norms concerning the role of international cooperation and the relation between national and international security vis-a-vis external threats.