Governance in the European Union (EU) and the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) [Elektronische Ressource] : a comparative analysis / von Oo, Soe Moe

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• Publié par: universitat_duisburg-essen
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 78
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

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Governance in the European Union (EU) and the Association of
the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): A comparative analysis


Vom Fachbereich Gesellschaftswissenschaften
der Universität Duisburg-Essen
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades



Dr. sc. pol.



genehmigte Dissertation



von



Oo, Soe Moe


aus


Yangon, Myanmar



Referent: Prof. em. Dr. Franz Nuscheler

Korreferent: Prof. Dr. Thomas Heberer




Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 16. April 2008


To my beloved wife Yu & my parents








































ii


ABSTRACT


This doctoral research is about the EU and the ASEAN regarding with their
developments of policy, politics and polity for transformation of different types of
governance in their own way. The EU is regarded as the most successful regional
integration project in the modern world because of its unique characteristics like
Single Market, European Monetary Union (EMU), its single currency (Euro) and
etc. Due to this sui generis character of the EU, some argued that there is no other
possibly comparable instance of international integration in the global political
scene. However, whether or not the EU is a motivating factor and admiring object
for all other late comers of regional integration projects, it is undeniable that there
are also relatively successful regional integration projects in the world outside the
EU realm, for example, the ASEAN in Southeast Asia. It is also very interesting
how heterogeneous members of the ASEAN manage to form a regional
organization encompassing all countries in the region even though there is a great
disparity of development and growth and also deep variances of own interests. At
least the ASEAN can also be compared with the EU in the sense to explain why
there is absence of war among member states by using both organizations as
independent variable in terms of their economic, political and security
cooperation. This study is a comparative analysis of different approaches to
regional integration between the EU and the ASEAN as well as their changing
modes of governance resulting from these approaches respectively. For the
comprehensive understanding of politics and policy-making in the EU and the
ASEAN, an analytical study of institutional designs, structures and organizational
developments was carried out. Focus is to explain the major differences between
the EU and the ASEAN and also to study internal factors and major processes,
which determine the achievements, failures and stagnations of both organizations
in the past decades. For analysis of policy-making and governance in the EU and
the ASEAN, case studies on Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the
EU, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU, ASEAN political and security
cooperation, ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and ASEAN Economic
Community (AEC) are conducted. It also examines the critical question whether
the EU is in fact a system of governance with its own sui generis polity or
whether it is just a useful instrument of its member states. Simultaneously, this
study attempts to give a comprehensive view of the governance approach that has
played an important role in the vitalization of regional integration studies in the
recent years.






iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


This doctoral dissertation is the result of many years of research and field data
collection works about the EU and the ASEAN. First of all, I would like to
mention my deepest gratitude to years long financial support from DAAD
(German Academic Exchange Service) for my PhD research in Germany. Without
receiving this crucial doctoral scholarship, I could never reach the light at the end
of academic tunnel in social science. Also, I am very much grateful to my
Doktorvater Prof. Franz Nuscheler for his invaluable guidance, help, criticism and
supervision throughout the years. My research has also greatly benefited from my
affiliation as a PhD candidate at the Institute of Political Science, University of
Duisburg-Essen (Campus Duisburg) by participating in a series of research
colloquiums, seminars and discussions and I particularly thank to ideas, insights
and critical reviews from many anonymous colleagues. Especially, I owe a lot to
Prof. Thomas Heberer’s doctoral colloquium and he became later my second
supervisor.

A number of people and institutions also helped me a lot during my field research
trips and writing process. Special notes of my gratitude go to Prof. Dr. Suthiphand
Chirathivat (Dean, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand), Prof. Dr.
Charit Tingsabadh (Director, Centre for European Studies, Chulalongkorn
University, Bangkok, Thailand), Dr. Colin Dürkop (Regional Representative,
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung), Dr. Tin Maung Maung Than (Institute of Southeast
Asian Studies), many valuable staffs of the ASEAN Secretariat, Prof. Dr. Lee Lai
To (then Head of the Department of Political Science, National University of
Singapore) and Prof. Dr. Kyaw Yin Hlaing of the same department for facilitating
me for all possible interviews, academic talks, library sources and office premises.
Dr. Paul Pasch (Representative to Malaysia, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung) also helped
me a lot for providing all possible access to academic conferences and other
sources for the continuation of my doctoral studies.

At last but not least, I am deeply indebted to my beloved wife Khin Myo Yu for
her unfaltering love, encouragement, support, inspiration, endurances and
personal sacrifices over those years during my doctoral study and my everlasting
gratitude goes to her. I would also like to thank my parents (Daw Mya Thit & U
Nyunt Tin) for their guidance, love and unwavering support to me from childhood
throughout this long academic journey. For all possible errors and shortcomings in
this dissertation, I bear sole responsibility for its contents.


Soe Moe Oo

September, 2008 (Duisburg, Germany)

iv

Table of Contents

Abstract iii
Aknowledgments iv
List of Tables and Figures ix
List of Abbreviations x

1 I. Introduction
1.1 Explaining the Research Topic and Objectives of the Dissertation 1
1.2 What is governance? Origin, Numerous Definitions and Endless
Debates 2
1.3 Major Research Questions and Research Methodology 7
1.4 Hypotheses and Thematic Outline of the comparative study 9


II. Theories of Regional Integration and Governance for the anatomy of
11 the EU and the ASEAN
2.1 Various Approaches and Definitions of Regional Integration 12
2.1.1 Regionalist Approach 15
2.1.2 Realist Approach 17
2.1.3 Federalist Approach 20
2.1.4 Functionalist School of Thought 21
2.1.5 Transactional Communication Approach 23
2.1.6 Neofunctionalist Approach 25
2.1.7 Neoliberal Institutionalist Approach 29
2.1.8 Constructivist Approach 31

2.2 Governance Approaches to Regional Integration 33
2.2.1 Liberal Intergovernmentalist Approach 34
2.2.2 Supranational Governance 37
2.2.3 Multilevel Governance 39
2.2.4 Network Governance 43

2.3 Critical Notions for the Process of Integration 45
2.3.1 Causes and Types of Integration 46
2.3.2 Characteristics, Limitations and Degree of Integration 48
2.3.3 Criteria for Successful Integration 52

2.4 Theoretical Relevance to Two Regional Organizations 54

2.5 Conclusion 56



v
59 III. Governance in the European Union
3.1 The Formation of the EU in historical context 59
3.1.1 Institutional Structure, Major Actors and Basic Socioeconomic and
Political Data of the EU 63
3.1.2 Positive and Negative Integration of the EU 66
3.1.3 Trade Integration in the EU 67

3.2 Determinants of Policy Processes in the European Union 69
3.2.1 Treaty Bases 72
3.2.2 Differentiation in the EU Policy Processes 75
3.2.3 Decision-making Procedures of the EU 76
3.2.4 The Efficiency and Effectiveness of the EU Policy Processes 77
3.2.5 Europeanization as a salient feature of the EU 78

3.3 The EU as a Community of Policy-Making 79
3.3.1 Interests, Ideas, Institutions and Issues of EU Policy 83
3.3.1.1 Interests 84
3.3.1.2 Ideas 85
3.3.1.3 Institutions 86
3.3.1.4 Issues 87
3.3.1.5 Initiation of Policy in the EU: National or Institutional
Orientation? 88
3.3.2 Policy Negotiation and Policy Coordination in the EU 91

3.4 Low Politics and High Politics of the EU: Assessing the EU’s
Multip