European Union

Dear Delegates,

I am Ezgi Bereketli, and I am a sophomore at Harvard College. I am planning to concentrate in Applied Mathematics, with a secondary degree in Computer Science. It was only last year that I found myself in the wonderful world of Model United Nations, and fell in love with everything about it. For this reason, being a member of this year’s amazing senior staff is an honor and already a wonderful experience for me. I am from Istanbul, Turkey, and therefore feel very close to the issues regarding the European Union. I had been a very active participant in the European Youth Parliament (EYP) during my 4 years at high school, and had been lucky enough to hold many positions ranging from delegate to president in many conferences. I have always been interested in European politics and the European Union, and for this reason, being the director of the committee on European Union gives me immeasurable delight, pride and excitement. European Union is a body of increasing importance in the world, and therefore its policies, problems, failures and successes have consequences that affect the whole world.

The topics I proposed for this year’s committee are current and pressing issues for the EU and will play a very important role in the future of the European Union. I am already filled with excitement and can’t wait to see the committee members get in the shoes of the European leaders to discuss and propose suggestions to the issues at the core of European political and social interest. If you have any questions about the committee topics, please send me an e-mail. Looking forward to meeting all of you in February 2010!

Sincerely,

Ezgi Bereketli

Director, European Union

Harvard National Model United Nations 2010

Topic Area A: Building a Unified European Military Force

After World War II, the United States decided to retain a strong military presence in Europe, especially because of the USSR cold war threat. This presence was soon followed and institutionalized by the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that gathered most of the future European Union countries. However, it also meant that the European countries grew to be heavily dependent on American military provision, technology and security, sometimes even in the resolution of minor local conflicts. In the past decade, European concerns about the direction of the US foreign policy and the inefficiency of the European Common Foreign Policy, or lack thereof, have raised the questions about the present role for NATO and the possible establishment of a united European military force. The first meaningful steps toward a EU army were taken in 1992, when the war in the Balkans handed Europe’s leaders a wake-up call that the EU needed a common military positioning. Some bodies exist in the European Union that function to help shape and support the union’s military force such as PSC (Political and Security Committee), EUMC (European Union Military Committee) and EUMS (EU Military Staff), however, their work is hardly effective and is mainly in the direction of cooperation with NATO.

The actual defense of the Union is the domain of individual Member States. Currently, closest to what can be called European Union military, is the rapid deployment force called European Union Battle Groups that can be deployed independently from NATO. Although almost all member states seem to be in unison about the necessity of a unified European military force, there are impediments on the way to its establishment. One is the lack of political unity when it comes to military missions; the most visible spat was during the U.S.-led war in Iraq, which virtually divided Europe in half. Another one is England’s stance in the discussion, who, as one of Washington’s closest allies, has been traditionally suspicious of a EU army with the fear that it could compete with the US-dominated NATO. A recent development has demonstrated that Europe might be more ready than ever towards the military unity. On 20 Feb 2009 the European Parliament voted yes to create “SAFE” (Synchronized Armed Forces Europe) as a first step towards a true European military force. Now there are different questions that Europe, and the EU committee at HNMUN 2010 need to answer: Is this the best direction to take? If a unified military force is going to be established, how will it be structured? Will this move EU toward a better integration? How will the United States and other major military powers react to this development?

Topic Area B: European Neighborhood Policy

The European Neighborhood is the region beyond the current frontier of the European Union. It comprises mainly of developing countries, that seek one day to become either member states of the European Union itself, or more closely integrated with the economy of the European Union. The European Union offers financial assistance to countries in the European Neighborhood, so long as they undertake reforms surrounding positive transformation. The objective of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) is to share the benefits of the EU’s 2004 enlargement with neighboring countries. According to the European Commission’s website “The European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) was developed in 2004, with the objective of avoiding the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and our neighbors and instead strengthening the prosperity, stability and security of all concerned.” The EU Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner explained the policy by saying ‘The ENP offers every neighbor country the chance to choose its own path. Those who want to advance relations through the ENP are already seeing their commitment matched with new opportunities.” Earlier, the EU’s neighborhood policy was realized through New Neighbors (2002) and Wider Europe (2002-2004) initiatives. With the European Neighborhood Policy, the central element guiding the relationships is the bilateral ENP Action Plans agreed between the EU and each partner. The European Neighborhood Policy applies to the EU’s immediate neighbors by land or sea – Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Tunisia, and Ukraine.

The ENP also has important implications for the US because it clashes with the American-Russian region of interest (East Europe, Caucasus, Middle East). Some questions that the European Union and this committee need to answer are: How much room is there for constructive dialogue in the European Neighborhood Policy? Can the European strategic interests on its Eastern borders be reconciled with a long-term possibility of full membership? How can European Union ensure and communicate that the ENP is an intercultural dialogue, and therefore does not aim to impose ‘European’ values?