Transformation in the normative power of the European Union in the context of principal pragmatism

The challenges brought by globalization cause security concerns for the EU. The limited transformative effect of the EU in the international community has pushed it to innovate in foreign policy. In this context, the problem of the thesis is determined as the double standards of the concept of durability that damages the normative aspect of the EU. The main purpose of the thesis is to examine the declining normative power of the EU with the vision of principled pragmatism. There are studies in the literature on the transformative power of the EU. However, this study aims to contribute to the literature by considering the transformation in the normative power of Europe in the context of principled pragmatism. The question of the thesis is about the role of principled pragmatism in the transformative power of Europe. For this reason, the hypothesis of the thesis is that the transformation in the normative power of the EU, which is both principled and pragmatic, damages EU values. The method used in the thesis is based on secondary sources and the descriptive analysis method is used. In the study, the concept of principled pragmatism is explained and the EU is claimed to be a synthesis consisting of both values and interests, and the normative power of Europe, its transformative power and historical development are examined. When the findings obtained in the thesis are evaluated, the concept of resilience, which is closely associated with principled pragmatism is built on value foundations and creates a pragmatist priority, making it inconsistent within itself. Therefore, this problem, which causes the creation of double standards, is based on the assumption that the EU can not be both principled and practical. The solution to the current problem is that the EU's foreign policy should be either value-based or pragmatic. Otherwise, being in both directions may erode the EU's values.