‘Our size fits all’: normative power Europe and the Mediterranean

Abstract:

The article focuses on the normative connotation of European foreign policy and makes three points. First, through the criteria of inclusiveness and reflexivity, it draws a distinction between ‘normative power Europe’ and Europe as a ‘civilizing power’. Second, the article puts forward a sociological institutionalist interpretation of the EU as a ‘civilizing power’. It suggests that much of the EU's action can be characterized as an unreflexive attempt to promote its own model because institutions tend to export institutional isomorphism as a default option. Third, the article shows the utility of a sociological institutionalist analysis by examining the case of the EU's promotion of regionalism in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.