Analysing EU Promotion of Sustainable Peace in Cyprus and Kosovo through a ‘Normative Power Europe' Perspective

In 2002, Ian Manners introduced the notion of ‘Normative Power Europe’ (NPE) to define the EU’s nature and role in world politics. ‘Sustainable Peace’ was identified as the prime norm that the EU should be advancing. This paper aims to analyse the EU promotion of sustainable peace through a ‘Normative Power Europe’ perspective and provide an evaluation of the potentials and limitations of this approach. In order to realize this goal, a three-part analytical framework is used which perceives a normative actor as one having normative goals, pursuing normative policies and producing a normative impact. This three-part framework is applied to the cases of Cyprus and Kosovo. Drawing on primary data gathered from interviews and official documentation, this paper concludes that the application of the NPE framework to the EU’s role in promoting sustainable peace is challenged on several grounds.