Analysing the action and the role of the European Union in its close neighbourhood: the case study of the European Union's Integrated Border Management Assistance Mission in Libya (EUBAM Libya)

Details

Supervisors

Duez, Denis

Faculty

Faculté des sciences économiques, sociales, politiques et de communication

Degree label

Master [120] en études européennes

Abstract

The complex security situation that followed the fall of the Qadhafi regime in Libya, have proved to be a challenge for the European Union. Indeed, the country has become the major port of departure of thousands of migrants risking their life at sea to reach Europe. The present Master thesis analyses the role of the European Union in the post-Qadhafi Libya. It focuses on the assessment of a CSDP operation, EUBAM Libya implemented in 2013. Assessing the performance of a CSDP operation turned out to be a complex exercise, that cannot be summed-up to the analysis of the achievements of the mission in line with its mandate alone. The thesis starts from the statement that the European mission, EUBAM Libya, has found itself in a stalemate. EUBAM is still operational today, despite the fact that it has been relocated to Tunisia and it had had a limited impact. After analysing the complex security situation in Libya and the Sahel region and its spill-over effects for the European Union, the thesis build upon a qualitativo-quantitative analysis of the European Union role conception. Based on the theory of role, a framework of analysis is identified to try to assess what are the roles the European Union conceives for itself and what is its role performance. The aim is to compare both and to identify the potential discrepancies between the two. In this framework, it becomes easier to understand and evaluate why the Union intervention in Libya is in a dead end.