Abstract
In a changing world order, the role of strategic partnerships in international relations takes on an increased significance. Several actors, including the EU and India, use strategic partnerships as a way for managing bilateral relations. For the EU, partnership strategies are internally negotiated and reflect shared strategic visions and policy preferences among the member states and institutions. However, so far very little attention has been paid in the literature on EU strategy-making to the role, function, and impact of partnership strategies. In particular, the question of what characteristics make a strategy a tool for increased engagement between strategic partners has to date been neglected. Based on unique interviews with experts about the EU’s Strategy on India (EUIS), this paper suggests that when underpinning the relations to a likeminded partner, a strategy can be a core element for engagement if it manifests both cohesion with the EU’s wider understanding of its global role and convergence with the partner’s preferences. We contend that the added value to the partnership of formulating strategy is the increased levels of predictability of strategic action and we call for further studies of the EU’s partnership strategies in light of changing conditions for agency in world affairs.
The presentation of empirics in this chapter builds on our working paper ‘The Partnership Shift: Analysing the European Union’s strategic engagements with India’, published by the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, July, 2019. We are grateful for the comments we received at the workshop ‘In the Light of the EU Global Strategy: India and the European Union Joining Forces on the Global Scene?’, hosted by the University of Würzburg, 20–22 November, 2019.
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Notes
- 1.
On the EU and Strategy, see e.g. Engelbrekt and Hallenberg (2008).
- 2.
For an analysis of the EUGS’s aspects regarding partnerships see the contribution of Pietzko in this volume.
- 3.
Some areas and policy proposals in the EUIS, such as 5G, automatisation, and collaboration between Europol and its Indian counterpart, were not explicitly mentioned by the experts consulted. These are therefore not elaborated on in this chapter, but the EU should not ignore them. In particular, the question of 5G in relation to the geopolitics of technical standards is becoming increasingly important for the EU, see e.g. Fägersten/Rühlig (2019).
- 4.
For an overview of the determinants and impediments of an EU-India Trade Agreement see the contribution of Köhler-Suzuki in this volume.
- 5.
See Tripathi’s contribution in this volume for an analysis of the EU and India’s approach to development cooperation.
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Interviews
Interview 1. Survey response by India-expert at Institut français des relations internationales.
Interview 2. Survey response by India-expert at Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik.
Interview 3. Survey response by India-expert at Chatham House.
Interview 4. Survey response by India-expert at Corvinus University of Budapest.
Interview 5. Telephone interview with India-expert at German Marshall Fund, 45 minutes, March 8, 2019.
Interview 6. Telephone interview with India-expert at Polish Institute of International Affairs, 55 minutes, March 8, 2019.
Interview 7. Written communications with India-experts at Finnish Institute of International Affairs, March 17, 2019.
Interview 8. Skype interview with India-expert at Observer Research Foundation, 55 minutes, March 20, 2019.
Interview 9. Telephone interview with India-expert at Friends of Europe, 15 minutes, April 10, 2019.
Interview 10. Written communications with India-expert at Centre for European Policy Studies, April 10, 2019.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the insightful comments and suggestions on earlier drafts by Björn Jerdén and August Danielsson. They would also like to thank the consulted experts from the Europe India Research and Dialogue Network (EIRDN) for sharing their expertise. The authors consulted India experts affiliated with the Centre for European Policy Studies, Corvinus University of Budapest, Chatham House, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Friends of Europe, German Marshall Fund, Institut français des relations internationales, Observer Research Foundation, Polish Institute of International Affairs, and Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik.
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Aspengren, H.C., Nordenstam, A. (2021). What Strategies Can Do for Strategic Partnerships: Lessons from the EU’s Strategy on India. In: Gieg, P., Lowinger, T., Pietzko, M., Zürn, A., Bava, U.S., Müller-Brandeck-Bocquet, G. (eds) EU-India Relations. Contributions to International Relations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65044-5_4
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