EU foreign policy includes the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) as first defined in the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 and the external political relations of the European Community. Under CFSP, Member States work together in the Council of Ministers and the European Council to shape common positions on major international issues and to adopt common actions, including the launch of crisis management operations under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, appointed in 2009, plays a key role in supporting foreign policy making, representing the Union abroad and conducting high-level negotiations. This post was established following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009. The new ‘double-hatted’ High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, occupied by Catherine Ashton since December 2009, brings together the positions of the former HR for CFSP and the Vice-President of the Commission in charge of External Relations, and chairs the Foreign Affairs Council.The post is supported by an integrated External Action Service (EEAS), including officials from the Council Secretariat, the Commission and Member States’ services. The EEAS is a unique and independent institution with its own independent budget.
These innovations are designed to equip the Union to better face up to its responsibilities in the world and develop into a fully-fledged international actor. Since the Lisbon Treaty entered into force, EU foreign policy has made considerable strides forward in addressing some of the key challenges facing the Union.
This study, the first of a new, restyled series of Chaillot Papers, focuses on how EU sanctions – or restrictive measures - work by providing an analytical framework to evaluate their success. In addition, it presents recommendations on how to improve the sanctioning process and elaborates on the future role of what has arguably become the most important foreign policy tool of the EU in recent years.
La nécessité de finaliser l’adoption du futur cadre financier pluriannuel d’ici la fin de l’année 2013 entraine des négociations interinstitutionnelles intenses. Ce plan budgétaire, qui prévoit les montants maximums de dépenses pour les sept prochaines années, s’appuie sur une redéfinition des priorités de l’UE, y compris pour les aspects sécuritaires de ses politiques.
What sort of armed forces are Europeans likely to have (and need) by 2025? How might Europeans better organise themselves to take part in the new global competition for wealth, influence and power? This report seeks to place European military capabilities in a broader perspective and demonstrate how the only way to safeguard common ‘strategic interests’ and counter potential risks is to do more together.
On 30 April 2013, the ECHR ruled that Yulia Tymoshenko had been subjected to arbitrary and unlawful detention before her trial in 2011. Yet, even if Tymoshenko’s case epitomises much of what is currently wrong with Ukraine’s politics, the problems facing the country are complex and cannot be reduced to the (mis)treatment of one politician.
The EUISS marked Europe Day by participating in the Open Doors Day organised by the European Council on Saturday 4th May in Brussels.
Taking place in Washington, D.C on the 13-14 March, the 2013 EUWF served as a reminder that diplomacy, development and defence are all important elements in attempts to maintain stability and generate growth, even in times of budgetary constraints.
On Friday 25 January, the EUISS was pleased to welcome Ms Helga Schmid, Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs in the EU's European External Action Service (EEAS) at the Institute for an informal exchange of views with Paris-based think tankers.
Tobias Koepf was quoted in an article titled 'EU mission to Mali seen as a threat to Europe'.
Deutsche Welle
