Transformation of policy areas within the CFSP : a case study on the EU code of conduct on arms transfers

This study aspires to reach a better understanding of policy transformation within the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union (EU). In order to do so, a case study is conducted on a specific agreement within the CFSP, the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports (the EU Code). The study investigates the transformation of policy as a result of this specific agreement in order to say something about the CFSP in general. Much like the CFSP itself, the EU Code both establishes political guidelines for the behaviour of the individual member states (in the form of political guidelines for arms exports), while at the same time institutionalises EU cooperation on this issue. Understanding the cooperation on the EU Code may therefore teach us important lessons about the CFSP in general. The study found that the original formulation of the EU Code can be largely explained by Liberal Intergovernmentalism, which describes government interaction in a bargaining process where political agreements are reached at a macro-level. Accordingly, negotiated agreements, such as the EU Code, are a function of the national interests of the member states. However, over time, the practices of the micro-level institutional operation of the EU Code drifted away from original national positions. The study found that the analytical tools of Historical Institutionalism are better equipped to explain this process. The first intergovernmental stage is where member states arrive at agreed upon platforms. Over time, an increasing number of new decisions are reached within the institutional structures established in order to administer the EU Code. The study identified a process which lead to a transformation from the initial politically negotiated agreement, towards increasing practical interaction at various levels of bureaucracy. This process tends to follow its own path, sometimes beyond the agreed upon political platforms changing or undermining original national positions. This process of transformation may go a long way in explaining the dynamics of the CFSP