Europeanization of British Defence Policy.

Abstract

The Europeanization of defence is an undernourished element of the relatively new field of Europeanization studies. The majority of the extant Europeanization literature covers the extent to which membership of the European Union affects the policies produced by member states, and similarly the way that states configure their bureaucracies in responding to EU policy initiatives. As a result the underlying assumption of Europeanization is that this phenomenon is top-down. Pressure is exerted from EU institutions, European law or by expectations on national governments to engage in EU issues means that member states are compelled to alter their policies to reflect and deliver a ‘Europeanized’ agenda. This book shows these assumptions to be incorrect. The Europeanization of British defence policy (1997-2005) demonstrates that these presumptions can be reversed with member governments uploading their preferences into the EU and effectively locking the other Members into their ‘uploaded’ preferences... cont'd.