EU-humanitarian assistance affairs: The utility of
“actorness” and “presence” for conceptualising
this EU-foreign policy-area

von: Julia Heise

Content Page

List of abbreviations 3

1. The concept of “Actorness”  4-9

2. The “Presence”-model 9-12

3. Conclusion 12-14

Bibliography  15-17

List of abbreviations

ACP = African, Caribbean, Pacific (countries)
CAP = Common Agricultural Policy
DG = Directorate-General
EC = European Community (European Communities)
ECHO = European Community Humanitarian Office
EU = European Union
FPA = Framework Partnership Agreement
HAC = Humanitarian Aid Committee
LRRD = Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development
NGO = Non-Governmental Organization
TEU = Treaty on European Union (Maastricht Treaty)
ToR = Treaty of Rome
UN = United Nations

The EU plays a multiplicity of roles in a range of policy areas in the international system1 and the global context is increasingly seen as the stage on which the Union must act.2 However, the EU is not a traditional global actor -it has a rather distinctive and unique international identity due to its institutional structure and decision- making procedures. Several theories have attempted to grasp this unique identity and are concerned with the question of how significant a global actor the Union is.

The following paper assesses the utility of two specific theories- “actorness” and “presence”- for conceptualising the role of the EU in one particular foreign policy-area- humanitarian assistance affairs.3 Section one examines how the concept of “actorness” can be applied to the policy-area of humanitarian assistance and evaluates the result of this analysis. The same method is used in section two that discusses the concept of “presence”. The essay concludes by comparing and reflecting on the overall utility of the two concepts.

1. The concept of “Actorness”

The first model focuses on the notion of “actorness” of the European Union in international affairs, which can be tested by means of four specific criteria- Recognition, Authority, Autonomy and Cohesion. 4 If these are met, the EU can be regarded as significant global actor. The following paragraph examines the EU foreign policy-area of humanitarian assistance in the light of the four criteria of “actorness”.

Recognition:

The European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) is responsible for the coordination of humanitarian aid in the EU. 5 Since ECHO was created in 1992 it has significantly enhanced EUvisibility, effectiveness and consistency in this area and has become one of the world’s main sources of humanitarian aid.6 Thus, the EU has extensive competence in the area of humanitarian assistance, which is increasingly recognised by other actors.7 An example for the formal recognition of the EU’s competence would be the Framework Partnership Agreements (FPA’s), which will be discussed in more detail below.

Authority:

Klages (2001) describes four pillars that constitute ECHO’s legal basis.8 First, on the basis of Article 179 of the TEU9 a Council Regulation on humanitarian aid was adopted in June 1996.10 This Regulation provides a clear definition of the European Union’s humanitarian aid policy and establishes ECHO’s mandate.11 The aim of humanitarian aid is to prevent or relief human suffering by providing help to people in third countries (on a nondiscriminatory basis 12), who have been victims of natural- or man-made disasters as well as structural crisis.13 ECHO’s mandate thus covers general humanitarian aid, emergency aid, emergency food aid, emergency aid for refugees and displaced persons but also disaster prevention, short-term rehabilitation and reconstruction operations.14 Second, the Council Regulation (EC) No 2258/96 emphasizes the significance of rehabilitation and reconstruction operations in developing countries. Third, the Commission Communication on linking relief, rehabilitation and development addresses the ‘grey zone’ between humanitarian aid and development cooperation policy and stresses the need to achieve long- lasting solutions.15

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1 Bretherton and Vogler, 1999: 15. These EU-foreign policy areas mainly include trade relations, security and defence issues, development affairs, environmental issues and humanitarian assistance. The role of the EU varies from area to area.

2 Cremona, 2004: 553.

3 Humanitarian assistance affairs fall under the portfolio of the Development-Commissioner. However, it has to be emphasized at this point that this essay exclusively deals with humanitarian assistance. On development affairs for example see Holland (2004), Santiso (2002), Brenton (2003), Grilli (1993), Babarinde/Faber (2004) and Pernice/Thym (2002).

4 Recognition describes the extent to which outside actors accept the international competence of the EU (in a certain policy-area). Authority defines the legal competence of the Union to act in a global context (The degree of EU-legitimacy, which is mostly based on the EU-treaties, varies from one foreign policy area to another due to member states’ willingness (or non-willingness) to transfer sovereignty to the Community-level. (Rhodes, 1998: 5)). Autonomy stands for the degree to which the EU has autonomous decision-making power and is distinctive and independent from other actors in the international system. (This includes a certain independence from the EU’s internal constituents. (Bretherton/Vogler, 1999: 20)) Cohesion, describes the extent to which the European Union acts in a unitary way externally. Several scholars have been concerned with the concept of “actorness” in relation to the EU’s external role and most of them conclude that some or all of these criteria have to be met in order to assign a considerable significance to the EU’s role in an international context. See Cosgrove-Sacks (2001: 3-28), White (2004) and Jørgensen (2004).

5 ECHO is a seperate office under the same Commissioner as for the DG Development and thus the policy-area of humanitarian assistance falls under the remit of the EC (Community)-pillar of the Union. Humanitarian assistance is non-coercive.

6 EU (2005). In 2003, ECHO channelled more than 600 million Euros to relief operations in more than 60 countries worldwide.

7 The EU has always given a great importance to humanitarian aid, which culminated in the creation of ECHO that solely deals with this area and for this purpose has considerable resources at its disposal. Especially since the establishment of ECHO the EU’s humanitarian aid programmes have rapidly grown in scope.

8 See Klages (2001: 184-185). Additionally, Article 254 of the Lomé IV Convention regulates the relationship between the Community and ACP-countries in terms of aid-policies.

9 Article 179 TEU under Title XX on development cooperation.

10 Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96 of 20 June 1996.

11 EU (2004). The co-decision procedure gives the European Parliament a greater role in defining humanitarian aid activities.

12 This means that no political or economic conditions are attached to the provision of humanitarian aid. ECHO assists all countries or people in need (even those that do not receive the conditional development cooperation aid). Haglund (2001: 156) mentions four principles of humanitarian assistance: it is given free of charge, impartially and independently, unconditionally as well as directly to the victims of emergency situations. Also see EU (2000) and Butler (2003).

13 Natural disasters include earthquakes, floods or hurricanes; man-made disasters include wars or conflicts and structural crises concern severe political, economic or social breakdowns. (European Union, 2004)

14 Disaster prevention includes the setting up of early warning systems as well as financial prevention measures in high-risk regions. (Klages, 2001: 181). Also see Smith (2003).

15 COM (96) 153 on LRRD emphasizes the need to improve the transition between humanitarian and development aid.