The Role of Public Variables in the Foreign Policy of EU Policy-Making Process

Document Type : Original Article from Result of Thesis

Authors

• Sajad Ebadi ¹
• Ali Tabatabaei Panah ²
• Alireza Soltani ²

¹ PhD Student, Department of Political Science, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

As one the most important parts of public policy, foreign policy is a complement to domestic policies in the international arena. A complete decision-making process consists of "problem statement", "development of different solutions", "evaluation and comparison of solutions", and "selection of the final solution", which are then followed by executive planning processes, including methodology, implementation, modification, evaluation, and monitoring of subsequent steps. Understanding the role, position, and impact of internal variables on the foreign policy process can help us better recognize the indicators affecting the decision-making process in the international arena.

The European Union (EU) is an organized economic-political institution that initially consisted of 12 European countries, and its members gradually reached 27 countries. Based on institutional theory, most European countries manage much of their sovereignty affairs, one of the most important of which is foreign policy, within the framework of a union. The foreign policy process in the EU is influenced by various public factors and variables at the national level. These factors and variables play a role in the adoption and implementation of decisions and policies by affecting the EU policymaking bodies.

Methodology

An important part of political science is to analyze the process of political decision-making or, in other words, policymaking. This study aimed to discuss the specific theories underpinning the decision-making process based on the philosophy and relationship between public variables in the structure of the EU in line with neoliberal institutionalism. Therefore, the main research question was as follows: What is the importance and place of public variables in the EU foreign policymaking process? To find an appropriate answer to this question, different types of public non-governmental variables affecting the EU decision-making process were identified and introduced, and then desk studies and analytical methods were employed to evaluate the EU foreign policymaking cycle with an emphasis on NGOs and corporations, multinational corporations, media, unions and guilds, think tanks, opinion poll centers, councils, and parties.

Results and Discussion

As owners of strong democracies, all EU member states possess a variety of active groups of stakeholders that employ different methods to influence the decisions taken by governments on a wide range of issues. These groups used to mainly focus on the process of decision-making about national and local policies as long as policies were primarily adopted at the national or local level. However, since more decisions are currently made at the European level, these groups, which have originated from the heart of European society, mainly concentrate on transnational and European policies and seek to influence the decisions made by organizations such as the European Commission and the European Parliament. In other words, such groups have grown up and adapted to the new conditions in parallel with the Europeanization of political areas, something that was followed only by national governments.

The latest data indicate that more than 12,000 registered NGOs are operating in the EU, most of which are cross-border groups providing common interests for groups of people in specific sectors in several EU member states. Since the relationship between the European Commission and these groups of stakeholders is beyond mere political or economic cooperation, the European Commission supports the overall performance of such groups. In return, these groups do their best to influence the policies proposed by this organization. The influence of these groups has added to the legitimacy and efficiency of cooperation between influential institutions of the EU. Non-governmental actors can also affect the EU decisions through the EU institutions. However, the long, complex, and multi-layered nature of European processes has provided these groups of stakeholders with many points of access and influence; therefore, since these groups, as well as non-governmental actors, are informed of the EU internal developments in advance, they can plan to affect European decision-makers and executors.

Prominent public organizations affecting the EU foreign policy include unions, federations, and economic corporations. As the most important old and powerful groups influencing the EU foreign policy, they try to secure their interests through market development and investment to the benefit of private and public equity. With their considerable extensiveness and diversity, political parties and coalitions have always played a major role as a link between public demands and foreign policymaking and tried to affect members of the parliament and other bodies of the EU. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have established close relationships with institutions such as the European Commission and European Parliament, especially over the past two decades, in order to influence the EU decisions and foreign policies in areas such as the promotion of social responsibility, gender equality, migrants and refugees, fight against poverty, defense of human rights, and environmental protection. Moreover, thinks thanks and research institutes have played an effective role in issues such as European integration and development, international/regional challenges, and other conflicts in the same period. The media, social networks, and opinion poll centers have generally enhanced the public opinion’s abilities to democratically control political currents. In fact, they have been among the main public variables affecting the EU policymaking either by attracting the attention of policymakers to the public opinion and public priorities or by raising the importance of foreign policies. Considering the important role of municipalities and local councils as well as the highest level of public trust in the EU, such public institutions have taken advantage of well-developed democratic mechanisms to influence the EU foreign policymakers and deepen the foreign policies related to public areas of the European Community.

Conclusion

The review of the EU foreign policy issues and crises as well as successful examples of the influence of public groups and organizations over the EU foreign policies demonstrated that public variables were among the most effective factors in the EU foreign policymaking. It is noteworthy that their importance and influence seem to increase day by day.        

Keywords

• General variables
• institutionalism
• decision-making
• policy-making
• foreign policy
• European Union

Main Subjects

• European Union
• International Organizations
• Politics
• Foreign Policy