The Role of Spain in the European Union - Cuba Relations: A Qualitative Research on Spain's Contribution to the European Union Foreign Policy Decision-Making Towards Cuba

Ebit, Melike

4. term

European Studies, Master

2014

2014-07-31

70 pages

The European Union foreign policy is a vast area whose objectives refer to promoting international peace, democratic principles and cooperation. Its most challenging mission is to develop dialogue with non-democratic states, such as Cuba. The purpose of this master thesis was to explore a social constructivist approach completed by a liberal institutionalist view of the European Union – Cuba nexus through the contribution of Spain as a Member state. For the exploration of this field, given the particularity of the problem, the research process consisted in a qualitative investigation through the case-study method, using interpretive techniques on the data. The process of foreign policy decision-making within the European Union institutions has been explored in order to determine how the actors construct their interests and policies, which was more obvious with the Spanish Members of European Parliament. Based on the analysis, Spain has demonstrated its role of mediator between the two political actors and the potential to influence the European Union policies towards Cuba to some extent, under particular conditions. The Spain – EU – Cuba triangle represents a complex framework that highlights the connection between national and European dynamics, the balance between the Council and the Parliament, as well as ideological clashes generating different kinds of policies.

Spain, Cuba, European Union foreign policy

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