Introduction

This book sheds light on the relationship between the European Union (EU) and its member states in analyzing how the Europeanization of foreign and security policy is shaping the identities of two different member states, Finland and Britain.1 The analytical rationale emerged from empirical observations related to the variation in the debate on foreign and security policy in Finland and Britain in the 1990s. In Britain there were some far-reaching generalizations suggesting that attempts to establish a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) for the EU were delusional.2 It was argued that the EU treaty declarations on these twin policies lacked political support, institutional capabilities and military resources. Consequently, the CFSP and the CSDP played a marginal role in the British political and scholarly debate. In Finland, meanwhile, the government argued that membership of the EU reinforces Finnish security. Consequently, the CFSP and the CSDP became the buzzwords of the new EU member state’s foreign and security policy and a central element in the political and scholarly debate. Against this background, two particularly puzzling and interrelated questions arise. What accounts for the differences? What do these differences tell us about the European foreign and security policy?