Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T16:50:45.682Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The European Union’s practice of state recognition: Between norms and interests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2018

Edward Newman  and
Gëzim Visoka
Edward Newman*
Affiliation:
Professor of International Security, School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds
Gëzim Visoka*
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University
*
*Correspondence to: Edward Newman, Social Sciences Building, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK. Author’s email: [email protected]
**Correspondence to: Gëzim Visoka, Dublin City University, Glasnevin Campus, Collins Avenue, Dublin, D09 Y074, Ireland. Author’s email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article explores the European Union’s (EU) practices of international state recognition in a transitional international order. It illustrates the difficulties that the EU has encountered in attempting to reach a collective position on sensitive cases of recognition – through a complex balance of internal and external considerations – at a time when the norms regarding recognition are increasingly under challenge. Whether the organisation takes a collective European position on recognition or allows its members to adopt individual national positions, acute inconsistencies and tensions have been exposed, with implications for the EU’s standing in the world. Through this, the article identifies a key tension between the EU’s normative commitments and its geopolitical interests. In conclusion, the article argues that while a uniform EU policy on recognition may not be feasible and case-by-case pragmatism will likely continue, a more coherent approach and greater understanding of the impact of the EU’s position on recognition are necessary. The article draws upon interview material and extensive analysis of official EU documentation in order to provide new insights into this complex challenge. By exploring the intricacies of recognition politics, the article also makes an empirical contribution to understanding the practice of international relations in this area.

Keywords

European UnionInternational RecognitionSovereignty
Type
Research Article
Information
Review of International Studies , Volume 44 , Issue 4 , October 2018 , pp. 760 - 786
Copyright
© British International Studies Association 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Bartelson, Jens, ‘Recognition: a short history’, Ethics and International Affairs, 30:3 (2016), pp. 202–321 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 Manners, Ian, ‘Normative Power Europe: a contradiction in terms?’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 40:2 (2002), pp. 235–258 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 Ryngaert, Cedric and Sobrie, Sven, ‘Recognition of states: International law or realpolitik? The practice of recognition in the wake of Kosovo, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia’, Leiden Journal of International Law, 24 (2011), pp. 467–490 CrossRefGoogle Scholar (pp. 467, 490).

4 Crawford, James, The Creation of States in International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 Grant, Thomas D., Aggression against Ukraine: Territory, Responsibility, and International Law (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), p. 204 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 Brownlie, Ian, Principles of Public International Law (7th edn, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008)Google Scholar; Jackson, Robert, The Global Covenant: Human Conduct in the World of States (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)Google Scholar.

7 Lauterpacht, Hersch, ‘Recognition of states in international law’, Yale Law Journal, 53 (1944), pp. 385–459 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8 Tierney, Stephen, ‘Legal issues surrounding the referendum on independence for Scotland’, European Constitutional Law Review, 9:3 (2013), pp. 376–377 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 Dugard, John, Recognition and the United Nations (Cambridge: Grotius Publications Ltd, 1987), p. 9 Google Scholar.

10 Ryngaert and Sobrie, ‘Recognition of states’, p. 484.

11 Hersch Lauterpacht, Recognition in International Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1947), p. 168. See also Peterson, M. J., Recognition of Governments: Legal Doctrine and State Practice, 1815–1995 (Basingstoke: The Macmillan Press, 1997), p. 51 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

12 Dugard, John, The Secession of States and Their Recognition in the Wake of Kosovo (Leiden: Brill, 2013), p. 33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

13 Grant, Aggression against Ukraine, p. 194. See also Raic, David, Statehood and the Law of Self-Determination (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2002), p. 42 Google Scholar.

14 Dugard, The Secession of States and Their Recognition in the Wake of Kosovo, p. 35.

15 Geldenhuys, Deon, Contested States in World Politics (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), p. 22 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

16 Aufricht, Hans, ‘Principles and practices of recognition by international organization’, The American Journal of International Law, 43:4 (1949), p. 703 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

17 Dugard, Recognition and the United Nations.

18 Caplan, Richard, Europe and the Recognition of New States in Yugoslavia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

19 Buzan, Barry and Wæver, Ole, Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

20 Erskine, Toni, Can Institutions Have Responsibilities? Collective Moral Agency and International Relations (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

21 Ker-Lindsay, James, ‘Engagement without recognition: the limits of diplomatic interaction with contested states’, International Affairs, 91:2 (2015), pp. 273–274 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

22 Raic, Statehood and the Law of Self-Determination, p. 442.

23 Dugard, Recognition and the United Nations, p. 165.

24 Grant, Thomas D., The Recognition of States: Law and Practice in Debate and Evolution (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1999), p. 23 Google Scholar.

25 Sterio, Milena, The Right to Self-Determination under International Law: ‘Selfistans’, Secession, and the Rule of the Great Powers (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013), p. 45 Google Scholar.

26 Manners, ‘Normative Power Europe’; Weiler, J. H. H. and Wind, M., European Constitutionalism beyond the State (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003)Google Scholar; Sjursen, H., ‘The EU as a “normative” power: How can this be?’, Journal of European Public Policy, 13:2 (2006), pp. 225–231 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Börzel, T. A. and Risse, T., ‘From Europeanisation to diffusion’, West European Politics, 35:1 (2012), pp. 1–19 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

27 Manners, ‘Normative Power Europe’, p. 239.

28 Diez, Thomas, ‘Constructing the self and changing others: Reconsidering “Normative Power Europe”’, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 33:3 (2005), pp. 613–636 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Pace, Michelle, ‘The construction of EU normative power’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 45:5 (2007), pp. 1041–1064 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Laïdi, Z., EU Foreign Policy in a Globalized World: Normative Power and Social Preferences (London: Routledge, 2008)Google Scholar.

29 Puetter, Uwe and Wiener, Antije, ‘Accommodating normative divergence in European foreign policy co-ordination: the example of the Iraq crisis’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 45:5 (2007), p. 1066 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

30 See Hill, Christopher, ‘“Convergence, divergence and dialectics”: National foreign policies and CFSP’, in Jan Zielonka (ed.), Paradoxes of European Foreign Policy (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 1998), pp. 35–51 Google Scholar; Belfour, Rosa, Carta, Caterina, and Raik, Kristi (eds), The European External Action Service and National Foreign Ministries: Convergence or Divergence? (Franham: Ashgate, 2015)Google Scholar.

31 Austermann, Frauke, European Union Delegations in EU Foreign Policy: A Diplomatic Service of Different Speeds (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), p. 2 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

32 European Parliament, Parliamentary Question No. E-0006540/2014 (24 October 2014), available at: {http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2014-006540&language=EN} accessed 2 November 2016.

33 Bickerton, Christopher J., European Union Foreign Policy: From Effectiveness to Functionality (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), p. 6 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

34 Buyse, Antoine and Lawson, Rick, ‘State recognition: Admission (im)possible’, Leiden Journal of International Law, 20:4 (2007), p. 786 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

35 Adler, Emanuel and Pouliot, Vincent, ‘International practices: Introduction and framework’, in Emanuel Adler and Vincent Pouliot (eds), International Practices (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), p. 6 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also Adler-Nissen, Rebecca, ‘Towards a practice turn in EU studies: the everyday of European integration’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 54:1 (2016), pp. 87–103 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

36 ‘Declaration on the “Guidelines on the Recognition of New States in Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union”’ and ‘Declaration on Yugoslavia’, Extraordinary European Political Committee Ministerial meeting, Press Release No. 128/91 and 129/91, Brussels (16 December 1991).

37 Caplan, Europe and the Recognition of New States in Yugoslavia, p. 2.

38 Grant, The Recognition of States, p. 171.

39 See Rich, Roland, ‘Recognition of states: the collapse of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union’, European Journal of International Law, 4:1 (1993), pp. 36–65 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

40 See Craven, Matthew, ‘The European Community Arbitration Commission on Yugoslavia’, British Yearbook of International Law, 66:1 (1996), pp. 333–413 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

41 See Pellet, Alain, ‘The opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee: a second breath for the self-determination of peoples’, European Journal of International Law, 3:1 (1992), pp. 178–185 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Türk, Danilo, ‘Recognition of states: a comment’, European Journal of International Law, 4:1 (1993), pp. 66–71 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

42 Caplan, Europe and the Recognition of New States in Yugoslavia, p. 7.

43 Ibid., p. 68.

44 Rich, ‘Recognition of states’.

45 Hainsworth, Paul and McCloskey, Stephen (eds), The East Timor Question: The Struggle for Independence from Indonesia (London: I. B. Tauris, 2000)Google Scholar.

46 European Union, ‘EU Presidency Statement – East Timor’ (18 May 2001), available at: {http://eu-un.europa.eu/eu-presidency-statement-east-timor-3/} accessed 25 November 2016.

47 Council of the EU, ‘Presidency Declaration on behalf of the European Union on the Declaration of Independence by the Montenegrin Parliament’, Press Release No. 10151/06 (Presse 171), Brussels (3 June 2006), available at: {http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_PESC-06-81_en.pdf} accessed 24 July 2017.

48 Džankić, Jelena, ‘The role of the EU in the statehood and democratization of Montenegro’, in Soeren Keil and Zeynep Arkan (eds), The EU and Member State Building: European Foreign Policy in the Western Balkans (Abingdon: Routledge, 2014), pp. 83–101 Google Scholar.

49 Džankić, Jelena, ‘From creeping to sprinting: the foreign policy of Montenegro’, in Soeren Keil and Bernhard Stahl (eds), The Foreign Policies of Post-Yugoslav States: From Yugoslavia to Europe (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), p. 173 Google Scholar.

50 European Union, Doc. No. 12679/1/11 REV 1, ‘Declaration by the EU and its Member States on the Republic of South Sudan Independence’ (9 July 2011), available at: {http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/foraff/123591.pdf} accessed 13 December 2016.

51 European Union, ‘EU HR Ashton Congratulates South Sudan on Second Anniversary of Independence’ (9 July 2013), available at: {http://eu-un.europa.eu/eu-hr-ashton-congratulates-south-sudan-on-second-anniversary-of-independence/} accessed 5 January 2017.

52 See, for example, Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, ‘Government Recognises the Independence of South Sudan’, Dublin (9 July 2011), available at: {https://www.dfa.ie/news-and-media/press-releases/press-release-archive/2011/july/recognition-of-independence-of-south-sudan/} accessed 8 August 2017.

53 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, ‘No: 162, 9 July 2011, Press Release Regarding the Recognition of the Independence of the Republic of South Sudan’, available at: {www.mfa.gov.tr/no_-162_-9-july-2011_-press-release-regarding-the-recognition-of-the-independence-of-the-republic-of-south-sudan.en.mfa}.

54 Press Statement of the 285th Meeting of the Peace and Security Council Peace and Security Council 285th Meeting (13 July 2011), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, available at: {https://au.int/sites/default/files/pressreleases/24422-pr-285th_final_press_statement_-_sudan_en.pdf}; Embassy of the Republican of Indonesia in South Sudan, ‘Indonesia Recognizes the Independence of South Sudan’ (11 July 2011), available at: {https://www.kemlu.go.id/khartoum/en/berita-agenda/berita-perwakilan/Pages/Indonesia-Recognizes-the-Independence-of-South-Sudan.aspx}. The EU’s statement of collective recognition is at: {www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/123591.pdf}.

55 Bridget Coggins, Power Politics and State Formation in the Twentieth Century: The Dynamics of Recognition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014).

56 Raic, Statehood and the Law of Self-Determination.

57 Council of the European Union, ‘Visa Liberalisation for Taiwanese’, Brussels (25 November 2010), available at: {http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/jha/118011.pdf} accessed 14 September 2016.

58 Interview with an EEAS official, Brussels, 16 March 2016.

59 European Parliament, Parliamentary Question No. E-5542/2007 (19 December 2007), available at: {http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2007-5542&language=EN} accessed 20 January 2017.

60 European Commission, Declaration by the Presidency on Behalf of the European Union on Forthcoming ‘Presidential Elections’ in Nagorno Karabakh, 11463/02 (Presse 233), Brussels (2 August 2002), available at: {http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_PESC-02-105_en.htm} accessed 25 July 2017.

61 Council of the European Union, ‘Joint Press Release Following the First Association Council Meeting between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova’, press release, 136/15 (16 March 2015), available at: {http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/03/16-first-association-council-meeting-between-european-union-republic-moldova/} accessed 25 July 2017.

62 Caspersen, Nina, Unrecognised States: The Struggle for Sovereignty in the Modern International System (Cambridge: Polity, 2012)Google Scholar.

63 European Parliament, Parliamentary Question No. E-004627/2012 (3 July 2012), available at: {http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2012-004627&language=EN} accessed 20 January 2017.

64 The Federal Republic of Somalia, ‘The Somali Compact’ (16 September 2013), p. 20, available at: {https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/20130916_the_somali_compact.pdf} accessed 20 January 2017.

65 European Parliament, Parliamentary Question No. E-006540/2014 (24 October 2014), available at: {http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2014-006540&language=EN} accessed 20 January 2017.

66 Benabdullah, Karima, ‘The position of the European Union on the Western Sahara conflict’, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 17:3 (2009), pp. 417–435 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

67 European Parliament, Parliamentary Question No. E-010478/2014 (2 March 2015), available at: {http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2014-010478&language=EN} accessed 20 January 2017.

68 Interview with an EEAS official, Brussels, 16 March 2016.

69 European Parliament, Parliamentary Question No. E-4982/2008 (17 November 2008), available at: {http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2008-4982&language=EN} accessed 20 January 2017.

70 Council of the European Union, Presidency Conclusions, Doc No. 12594/2/08 REV 2 (6 October 2008), p. 2, available at: {http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/102545.pdf} accessed 20 January 2017.

71 {http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2014-006107&language=EN}.

72 European Union, ‘EU Demarches for the Non-Recognition of the Breakaway Regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Georgia’, Brussels, 15 June 2011.

73 Ibid.

74 Ibid.

75 Cooley, Alexander and Mitchell, Lincoln A., ‘Engagement without recognition: a new strategy toward Abkhazia and Eurasia’s unrecognized states’, Washington Quarterly, 33:4 (2010), pp. 59–73 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

76 Interview with an EEAS official, Brussels, 15 March 2016.

77 Government of Office of Sweden, ‘Two Years after the Illegal Annexation of Crimea’ (18 March 2016), available at: {http://www.government.se/opinion-pieces/2016/03/two-years-after-the-illegal-annexation-of-crimea/} accessed 28 November 2016.

78 UN General Assembly, UN. Doc. A/RES/68/262, Resolution on Territorial Integrity of Ukraine, 1 April 2014.

79 EEAS, ‘The EU Non-recognition Policy for Crimea and Sevastopol’, Fact Sheet, Brussels (March 2016), available at: {http://collections.internetmemory.org/haeu/content/20160313172652/http://eeas.europa.eu/top_stories/pdf/the-eu-non-recognition-policy-for-crimea-and-sevastopol-fact-sheet.pdf} accessed 20 November 2016.

80 European Commission, Joint Staff Working Document, Information Note to EU Business Operating and/or Investing in Crimea/Sevastopol, SWD(2014) 300 final/2, Brussels (11 August 2014), p. 4.

81 Interview with a diplomat from a EU Member State, Brussels, 16 May 2017.

82 Interview with a European Commission official, Brussels, 27 March 2017.

83 Newman, Edward and Visoka, Gëzim, ‘The foreign policy of state recognition: Kosovo’s diplomatic strategy to join international society’, Foreign Policy Analysis (2016)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/fpa/orw042.

84 Council of the European Union, Press Release 2,851st Council Meeting, General Affairs and External Relations, Doc. no. 6496/08 (Presse 41), 18 February 2008, p. 7.

85 Ibid.

86 Weller, Marc, Contested Statehood: Kosovo’s Struggle for Independence (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

87 Interview with a European Commission official, Brussels, 27 March 2017.

88 Visoka, Gëzim, Acting Like a State: Kosovo and the Everyday Making of Statehood (Abingdon: Routledge, 2018)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

89 Chen, Ti-Chiang, The International Law of Recognition (New York: F. A. Praeger, 1951), p. 191 Google Scholar.

90 European Parliament, Parliamentary Question No. E-001445/2016 (15 June 2016), available at: {http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2016-001445&language=EN} accessed 17 January 2017.

91 Ker-Lindsay, James and Armakolas, Ioannis (eds), Lack of Engagement? Surveying the Spectrum of EU Member State Policies Towards Kosovo (Pristina: Kosovo Foundation for Open Society, 2017)Google Scholar.

92 European Parliament, Resolution on Kosovo and the Role of the EU, Doc. No. P6_TA(2009)0052, 5 February 2009.

93 See Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Kosovo, Brussels (2 October 2015), available at: {http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-10728-2015-REV-1/en/pdf} accessed 20 January 2017.

94 Interview with a European Commission official, Brussels, 27 March 2017.

95 Statement by HRVP Mogherini on Recognition of Palestine Statehood at the EP Plenary, available at: {https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4bTL_1TwvU&list=PLsAbGOcWnbyo7brkcBFBkVuJ24Dvj8oLE} accessed 21 January 2017.

96 Council of the European Union, ‘Council Conclusions on the Middle East Peace Process’, Press Release No. 610/15 (20 July 2015), available at: {http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/07/20-fac-mepp-conclusions/} accessed 20 January 2017.

97 Bouris, Dimitris, The European Union and Occupied Palestinian Territories: State-Building without a State (Abingdon: Routledge, 2014), p. 50 Google Scholar.

98 European Union, ‘Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the Middle East Peace Process’, Doc No. 16079/2/12 REV 2 (29 November 2012), p. 1, available at: {http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/cfsp/133902.pdf} accessed 22 January 2017.

99 Oliveira Martins, Bruno, ‘“A sense of urgency”: the EU, EU member states and the recognition of the Palestinian State’, Mediterranean Politics, 20:2 (2015), p. 28 Google Scholar.

100 International Court of Justice, ‘Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara’ (16 October 1975), available at: {http://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/61/6197.pdf} and ‘Advisory Opinion on Kosovo’ (22 July 2010), available at: {http://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/141/141-20100722-ADV-01-00-EN.pdf} accessed 26 July 2017.

101 See, for example, Coggins, Power Politics and State Formation in the Twentieth Century.