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A Critical Perspective on Data Transparency in the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union: Methodological Challenges in Foreign Policy Research

Data Transparency
Open Data
Foreign Policy

Minna Ålander, Annegret Bendiek, Paul Bochtler, 2020, “A Critical Perspective on Data Transparency in the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union: Methodological Challenges in Foreign Policy Research,” SWP - Working Paper: Research Division EU/Europe 02, doi: https:/doi.org/10.18449/2020WP11

Authors
Affiliation

Minna Ålander

Annegret Bendiek

Paul Bochtler

Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik

Published

November 2020

Abstract

The aim of this data collection is to examine the output of the European Union (EU) in the area of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) since the entry into force of the Lis- bon Treaty in 2009. To date, European academic research has been lacking a comprehen- sive quantitative record of CFSP output. Individual data sets, such as on the sanctions im- posed by the EU, are an exception and already well documented and analysed in detail. However, a documentation of the CFSP, such as published by the German Federal Foreign Office in the 1990s, has been discontinued. The unique feature of this analysis is there- fore the ambition to systematically collect all public data on various areas of the CFSP. The intergovernmental nature of the CFSP is distinct from other communitarised EU policies. Member states are bound by the principle of unanimity unless there are clearly defined exceptions. Decision-making in the Council of the EU takes place largely behind closed doors and in the non-legislative area. The issues discussed in the European Council or the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) are confidential and often classified. The CFSP falls within the sphere of national security and executive ownership, where secrecy is tolerated as a necessity for government executive action. This “functional” secrecy may well open up new negotiating spaces for diplomatic successes. Trust forms the basis for negotia- tions at the EU level and is created through personal exchanges between representatives of the member states. The EU’s multi-level system reinforces the requirements of confi- dentiality in the CFSP, as it is not only the sum of national foreign and security policies, but also creates its own dynamics of confidentiality at the EU level.

Secrecy stands in a complicated relation to transparency, which the EU has committed itself to in the Lisbon Treaty. Documents are published in almost unmanageable numbers - the Council claims to make some 25 000 documents available to the public every year. However, the amount of data is insufficiently processed and it is left to the users to sys- tematise it. This makes a quantitative analysis of the CFSP as a separate policy area con- siderably more difficult. Moreover, despite the transparency requirement, a number of CFSP-relevant documents are still kept under lock and key due to the confidentiality of the policy area. Functional secrecy in diplomacy may be necessary to a certain extent for the functioning of foreign policy, but it ought to be accompanied by functional transparency of policy results. In order to locate political responsibility, more than the mere publication ofunprocessed data is needed. Low-threshold access for users to the information contained in documents is essential for functional transparency; for example, through machine-read- able formatting and user-friendly filter functions.

Given the current data availability, research is dependent on close cooperation with the EU Council Secretariat in order to obtain systematic access to data for a quantitative anal- ysis of the CFSP. A further complicating factor is that EU documents that are relevant for research do not automatically have to be published and released by the responsible au- thorities. The final decision on publication remains with the EU decision-makers, who have a gatekeeper function. The information that the EU provides, for example through its website, is therefore inevitably incomplete and only represents a selection. The contents of the press releases of the European External Action Service (EEAS), which in principle are easily accessible sources of information, are also carefully selected. The present data collection and output analysis of the CFSP based on it are therefore limited by default. In a first step, the methodological approach to data collection chosen here is presented. SPARQL queries were used as well as an automated collection of raw data by means of web scraping of the Council websites. In a subsequent step, a descriptive analysis of the data on CFSP output follows. Council decisions, sanctions and minutes of Council meetings as well as press releases are examined. The pilot study on CFSP output carried out here makes it possible to formulate recommendations for improved functional transparency, which is a necessary step for further research.

Citation

@article{https://doi.org/10.18449/2020wp11,
  doi = {10.18449/2020WP11},
  url = {https://www.swp-berlin.org/10.18449/2020WP11/},
  author = {Ålander,  Minna and Bendiek,  Annegret and Bochtler,  Paul and {Stiftung Wissenschaft Und Politik}},
  language = {en},
  title = {A critical perspective on data transparency in the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union},
  journal = {Working Paper / Research Division EU/Europe},
  publisher = {Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP),  German Institute for International and Security Affairs},
  year = {2020}
}