Experimenting in the northern laboratory: the emergence of an EU approach to security governance in the north and its broader significance

Abstract

This article explores the changing nature of security governance in Northern Europe since the end of the Cold War. Prior to enlargement in 2004 European Union (EU) involvement in the region was limited and cautious, with security governance driven predominantly by regional actors. At the same time, the connection between ‘security’ and projects of ‘regional cooperation’ was complex and largely interdependent. Since 2004 the EU has become more engaged in the region, most recently through its new Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region via which the north is conceptualised as a possible test case for broader conceptions of regional governance in Europe. The article argues that such developments raise significant questions, not only for the future and nature of regional security conceptions in the north, but also in respect of how the EU conceptualises itself in relation to security more generally.

Keywords:

• European Union
• Northern Europe
• security
• northern dimension
• Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region

Notes

1. This section draws on arguments made in Browning and Joenniemi (2004, pp. 236–239).

2. For an analysis comparing how the ENP plays out in the south, east and north, see Browning and Joenniemi (2008).

3. It should be noted that following initial enthusiasm regarding its promised ‘partner status’ in the ND, which signalled Russia would no longer be treated as a de facto outsider, when this failed to sufficiently materialise as a result of EU attempts to discipline the ND and assert the Commission's superiority over the other partners, Russia adopted a policy of ‘passive resistance’ towards it (Haukkala 2008, pp. 220–224).