The European parliament's influence on the CFSP : an analysis of the EU's 'policy' towards Libya 2011 - 2014

Abstract

The power of the European Parliament has always been a reliable symbol for the progress of European integration. The political cooperation within the EU supported the development of the EP from a non-important institutional body to a representation of European citizens. However, this empowerment process is still ongoing and therefore underlines the policy areas that remain intergovernmental, putting the EP in a more observatory position. As a result, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) has to be named as an example. The CFSP can be looked at with different political preferences. Historical, theoretical, instrumental and institutional all link to CFSP. Covering all possible political scenarios about CFSP, this thesis covers the CFSP within the institutional architecture by discussing the formal and informal roles of the European Parliament within this field. Concerning the CFSP-status of the EP, this thesis will primarily tackle the question, whether there were major differences and points of disagreement between the approaches to Libya - adopted by the Council of Ministers and the European Council, on the one hand, and the European Parliament, on the other - and whether this fit the norm in the way institutions behave towards each other in the domain of the CFSP. To put a deepening focus on the answering to this question, the case study of the Libyan crises (2011-2014) will serve as a wider source for the reader to better understand the concept of how institutions may agree or disagree on external policy issues. Examples from the CFSP conclusions on Libya's case study are taken to analyse the influence of the European Parliament in the EU's foreign policy. For this specific research, a literature review will assess existing literature on the role of the EP in the CFSP. The aim would be to test the EP's influence in foreign policy. The next step will entail an analysis of the stands taken by the Parliament and the Council to see whether the findings of the literature review are supported by the unfolding events as they happened. To gather the appropriate data, qualitative method of research is used to allow a clear observational study of the CFSP's decision-making process. This thesis will feature the EP's formal and informal powers in the CFSP by analysing the differences between the Council's conclusions and the European Parliament's resolutions. However, it can be said that even though formal powers are not found to be influential, the European Parliament uses informal powers to increase its influence within the CFSP decision-making.