Introduction: To Take or Not to Take EU Norms? Adoption, Adaptation, Resistance and Rejection

Abstract

Aiming to advance a research agenda on export and import of EU norms and values, the main focus is on the recipients of EU norms. This chapter raises questions concerning when, how and why EU norms are imported. How are EU norms adopted, adapted, resisted or rejected? How do norm-takers perceive of the EU and its norms? Is there a ‘normative fit’ or friction between EU norms and the local normative context? Bringing together insights from a variety of theoretical perspectives we investigate norm import and develop a conceptual framework to understand why norm takers around the world adopt, adapt, resist or reject the EU’s norm exports. Why are there differences in willingness to import norms exported by the EU in various parts of the world? We situate the conceptual framework within the normative power literature and we elaborate the notion of cultural filters including others’ perceptions of the EU in order to understand these responses to EU norm export. We emphasize translation of imported European norms into changes of institutional arrangements, policies and/or practices by recipients. We organize responses into a spectrum that stretches from unqualified adoption of European norms, over adaptation and increasing levels of resistance to unambiguous rejection. This conceptual framework provides us with tools to read a complex reality without necessarily mirroring this reality.