Benign Partner or Benign Master? – Economic Partnership Agreement Negotiations between the European Union and the Pacific Islands

In 2002, Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations were initiated between the European Union (EU) and the Pacific Island states. As of 2009, interim EPAs have been initialled with two Pacific countries, while no agreements have been made with the remaining Islands. Why such meagre results? We offer an explanation to this puzzle by pinpointing fundamental incompatibilities in basic beliefs and role conceptions.

Behind the superficial consensus on negotiation goals, we find incongruent understandings of what development means and of the role of EPAs in this context. We demonstrate the existence of incompatible role conceptions: the EU’s representation of itself as a generous benign partner is contrasted with the Pacific view of the EU as a benign master. Furthermore, the EU was perceived throughout the Pacific as putting undue pressure on their negotiators during the negotiations. These findings can inform the EU’s general role as a normative power: such power depends on shared understandings of basic ideas and values, as well as on coherence between EU rhetoric and practice.