‘Our size fits all’: normative power Europe and the Mediterranean

Abstract

The article focuses on the normative connotation of European foreign policy and makes three points. First, through the criteria of inclusiveness and reflexivity, it draws a distinction between ‘normative power Europe’ and Europe as a ‘civilizing power’. Second, the article puts forward a sociological institutionalist interpretation of the EU as a ‘civilizing power’. It suggests that much of the EU's action can be characterized as an unreflexive attempt to promote its own model because institutions tend to export institutional isomorphism as a default option. Third, the article shows the utility of a sociological institutionalist analysis by examining the case of the EU's promotion of regionalism in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.