'Conceptualizing the European Union's Global Role,''

Manchester University Press eBooks, 2018

2004

The European Union‟s foreign policy is an ongoing puzzle. How can we describe, explain and foresee the development of a process that was originally conceived and constructed as being strictly intergovernmental and yet which now aspires to the creation of a „common defence‟? Moreover, in what spatial context is this occurring – is it a policy emerging from amidst the cooperation of distinct national agents or should it be viewed as a policy deriving from an emerging single polity? In addition, that aspect of EU foreign policy that is defined as CFSP is unique in terms of its process and nature. As Jørgensen (2002) notes in his contribution to this volume „communication and argumentation are essential features of the system‟ (original emphasis). Thus a large part of what passes for European foreign policy is about the way in which information is gathered, analysed and shared, the way in which member state representatives interact and debate issues amongst themselves and finally the ways in which language in used to give effect to the conclusions of those deliberations.

Rethinking European Union foreign …, 2004

The European Union‟s foreign policy is an ongoing puzzle encompassing a number of paradoxes. The membership of the enlarging European Union has set itself ever more ambitious goals in the field of foreign policy-making, yet at the same time each member state continues to guard their ability to conduct an independent foreign policy. As far as the EU‟s ambitions are concerned, basic foreign policy co-operation led first to co-ordination, and later the goal of creating a „common‟ foreign policy. However, behind each raised level of ambition was an unsatisfying reality of continuing policy incoherence and ineffectiveness. Similarly, early ambitions that Europe should develop a single foreign policy „voice‟ have been supplanted by aspirations to create a common security and defence policy – even as the Union‟s voice continues to be often fragmented and frequently tentative in its expression. Moreover, while the desire to maintain the national veto over decision-making within the „second pillar‟ of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) remains, it is increasingly challenged by the realisation that without extended use of qualified majority voting a common policy may prove illusory.

European Law Journal, 2004

The reform of the constitutional foundations of Europe's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) featured prominently on the agenda of the European Convention. To the great surprise of many observers the much lamented absence of a common European response to the war in Iraq did not prevent the Convention from agreeing upon an ambitious reform package in the foreign-policy field. This article explores the legal implications of the new institutional balance for European foreign policy envisaged by the Convention against the background of the achievements and deficiencies of Europe's existing foreign policy regime. Thereby, we shall see in how far the Convention has met the original goal set by the Laeken European Council to consider reform steps to strengthen the Union's ability to 'shoulder its responsibilities in the governance of globalisation.'

The European Union in International Affairs, 2020