By shedding light on EULEX - the EU mission to Kosovo – this open access book investigates the EU’s peacebuilding activities in that country, in the light of the normative power theory in the post-conflict setting and peacebuilding theory. Ten years after the massive engagement of the EU in the country torn by war, the authors critically assess the effects of the EU projecting its normative power – the enforcement of its standards, ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – through the EULEX mission, taking into consideration also the local aspects, so far neglected in this field of research. Inspecting thoroughly the EULEX activities in the police, customs and judiciary sector, the authors reveal that the mission can contribute to a positive change, but only in those cases which do not request a heavy political involvement and broad leverage by other international players (for example in improving standards of work in police and customs). When it comes to the most serious cases of organized crime, corruption and war crimes, EULEX, however, has not been able to address them effectively due to several internal mission’s deficiencies and external factors; the perceived ineffectiveness of EULEX among the local population led to the lowering of trust not only in this CSDP mission, but also in the EU in general. This open access book offers a comprehensive assessment of the EULEX mission, based on two Horizon2020 research projects: IECEU - Improving the Effectiveness of Capabilities in EU Conflict Prevention, and KOSNORTH – The European Union and its Normative Power in a Post-conflict Society: A Case Study of Northern Kosovo (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship). As such it is an invaluable resource for scholars, students and policymakers interested in security questions in South Eastern Europe and EU external action.

By shedding light on EULEX - the EU mission to Kosovo - this open access book investigates the EU's peacebuilding activities in that country, in the light of the normative power theory in the post-conflict setting and peacebuilding theory. Ten years after the massive engagement of the EU in the country torn by war, the authors critically assess the effects of the EU projecting its normative power - the enforcement of its standards, 'good' or 'bad' - through the EULEX mission, taking into consideration also the local aspects, so far neglected in this field of research. Inspecting thoroughly the EULEX activities in the police, customs and judiciary sector, the authors reveal that the mission can contribute to a positive change, but only in those cases which do not request a heavy political involvement and broad leverage by other international players (for example in improving standards of work in police and customs). When it comes to the most serious cases of organized crime, corruption and war crimes, EULEX, however, has not been able to address them effectively due to several internal mission's deficiencies and external factors; the perceived ineffectiveness of EULEX among the local population led to the lowering of trust not only in this CSDP mission, but also in the EU in general. This open access book offers a comprehensive assessment of the EULEX mission, based on two Horizon2020 research projects: IECEU - Improving the Effectiveness of Capabilities in EU Conflict Prevention, and KOSNORTH - The European Union and its Normative Power in a Post-conflict Society: A Case Study of Northern Kosovo (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship). As such it is an invaluable resource for scholars, students and policymakers interested in security questions in South Eastern Europe and EU external action. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

The notion of Normative Power Europe (NPE) is that the EU is an 'ideational' actor characterised by common principles and acting to diffuse norms within international relations. Contributors assess the impact of NPE and offer new perspectives for the future exploration of one of the most widely used ideas in the study of the EU in the last decade.

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 2,0, University of Ghent, language: English, abstract: This article analyses the extent to which the European Union (EU) constitutes a normative power in its response on the Syrian Conflict. Normative power Europe is examined along principles, actions and impact. The empirical analysis focuses on two norms: democracy and human rights. According to analysis, taken measures by the EU have been moderate and less influential on the national level while the value promotion on the reginal level could prove its normative power. For several decades EU foreign policy analysis is concerned with the question of European Union (EU) actorness and the role of EU in international politics. Analysts are talking of the EU as a Military Power, Civilian Power, Soft Power or Cultural Power. General discussion of conceptual frameworks of the Normative Power Europe has become immensely popular in the EU studies and has provoked substantial debate. At the same time, the EU has been experiencing a dramatic change in its direct neighborhood. Syrian Arab Republic, the country located in the heart of Middle East, turned into a new hybrid war and the region was overwhelmed with one of the worst humanitarian crises the world has faced in the 21st century. About 5.6 million Syrians are recent refugees in neighboring countries, 11.7 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance internally and over 560.000 became victims of the Syrian war. The extent and continuation of the conflict also has a destabilizing impact and turned the neighborhood into a “ring of fire”. The displacement of people, the exacerbation of political and sectarian differences and the spread of terrorism are forming a new threat to the democratic institution of the EU.

This book provides an analysis of key approaches to rule of law oversight in the EU and identifies deeper theoretical problems.