Browsing by Author "Huuska-Suomaa, Nina"

The European Union’s common security and defence policy (CSDP) has been under development since the Maastricht Treaty (1993). Regardless of the favourable public opinion the policy has not proceeded further than crisis management. The progress has been hindered also by the member states’ prioritisation of national sovereignty. This thesis examines the public debate and public opinion on the EU’s common security and defence policy during the period of 1995–2009. The Netherlands and Finland are the subjects of this study. These countries are suitable subjects because both of them are small EU member states with different security political emphases. The public opinion has not been a central topic in the research of CSDP. Therefore, this thesis approaches the matter from the perspective of public opinion. The thesis asks if it is possible to detect tensions between the official stances of these states and the public opinion. The basic assumption is that if nation-states do not take the favourable public opinion into account in policy-making, it implies that democratic deficit does not only concern the EU but also its member states on national level. The thesis is based on two types of sources. Eurobarometer studies are used in order to examine the development and changes in the public opinion. Eurobarometers are especially suitable sources because they are similar in all EU-member states. In addition, the public debate taking place in the opinion sections of newspapers is analysed. Two national newspapers were chosen from both countries, from Finland Helsingin Sanomat and Turun Sanomat, and from the Netherlands NRC Handelsblad and De Volkskrant. Qualitative and quantitative methods supplement each other. The newspaper material is analysed with the help of Grounded Theory, which belongs to the qualitative methods. In this kind of data-driven analysis the categories/themes of the study surface from the empirical material. The thesis utilises also quantitative material and analysis, especially in the context of Eurobarometers and newspaper material. In addition, the thesis utilises the practices of comparative research in order to contrast the cases. In this way it is possible to examine the parallels and differences between the case countries. The thesis observes that the public opinion on CSDP in the Netherlands has been extremely positive during the period of 1995–2009. In Finland the support for CSDP has been among the lowest in the EU, but it has become more favourable during the period under study. The public debate has been more extensive in Finland than in the Netherlands. In both countries three central themes surfaced: national interests, EU aspects and security strategies. In the Netherlands CSDP is supported especially because it is seen to be beneficial to the EU’s identity, integration and international role. CSDP is most often opposed because of the prioritisation of NATO as the European security actor. In Finland CSDP is most often supported and opposed in the context of security political reasons. According to supporters, CSDP would increase security of the country and it is not regarded that CSDP would require the abandonment of non-alignment. The opponents are of the opinion that CSDP endangers non-alignment policy. The thesis has detected parallels and differences between the case countries. The similarities relate especially to the identity of both countries as a small state. This identity manifests in different ways: in Finland it relates to increasing national security. In the Netherlands it relates to the EU-aspects and to the desire to keep NATO involved in European security policy. The differences relate especially to the Dutch NATO membership and to the Finnish non-alignment. The Finnish non-alignment policy has clearly caused a more reserved stance of the Finns towards CSDP. In the Netherlands the reservations relate to the primacy of NATO in the national security policy. In terms of alleged democratic deficit the results of this thesis are not unequivocal. The thesis shows that the public opinion is positive but also reserved. A referendum is probably the only reliable way to measure the public opinion on CSDP. It would be in place to evoke increasing debate on citizens’ wishes about CSDP and about the EU in general in the case countries and in other EU-member states.