We would revisit the several aspects of the European Political Cooperation(EPC) as a new foreign policy mechanism. 1) EPC's historical background, 2) its process, 3) theoretical approaches to the EPC, and 4) the realities of Common European Foreign Po...
We would revisit the several aspects of the European Political Cooperation(EPC) as a new foreign policy mechanism. 1) EPC's historical background, 2) its process, 3) theoretical approaches to the EPC, and 4) the realities of Common European Foreign Policy and its limits.
First, As a new styled foreign policy model, We analyzed its mechanism(the European Council, the Conference of foreign ministers, the Political Committee, the European Correspondents, the Working Groups, and so on). Second, Analyzing the documents in relation to EPC from Luxembourg Report to Maastricht Treaty, we analyzed its facets in literature. Third, theoretically, we attempted to broaden the theoretical enquiry from the traditional international theories to new ones. Last, we revisted the reality of EPC's activities from its creation to nowadays.
In conclusion, We find the facts as follows:
To theorize about EPC is very difficult, and the existing theories applied to EPC are only partly relevant. Especially, we bacame to be concerned about the consociational theory as well as regime theory and world-system perspective. and, It si necessary to develop a more appropriate paradigm.
In reality, EPC's implementations have shown a characteristic of intergovernmentalism, not that of supranationalism (or federalism ultimately) which EC endeavor to achieve. One of the important points given attention to EPC's role in international context is inter-regional cooperation. For example, it has to bloc relations with ASEAN, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Contadora Group.