EU external policy under the Lisbon Treaty

The 24-25 June 2010 EUISS Conference on ‘EU external policy under the Lisbon Treaty: the principle of coherence and the challenges of global governance’ organised in cooperation with the Spanish Presidency of the EU constituted a particularly well-timed opportunity to reflect on how foreign policy under the Lisbon Treaty should respond to global and regional challenges. The Conference was built on the premise that with the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty and institutional reform almost done, the EU now needs to concentrate on the substance of its foreign policy. The EUISS Annual Report ‘A strategy for EU foreign policy’, which was released for the occasion, is intended as a contribution for this necessary exercise; and indeed it served as a good basis  for intense discussions during the Conference. Over 60 participants from different EU member states and EU institutions attended the Conference and contributed to the debates. For the closing session, Claude-France Arnould, Deputy Director of the Crisis Management and Planning Directorate of the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU, depicted recent developments in EU civilian and military crisis  response capabilities as well as prospects for the future. Her reflections also served for the launching of the EUISS book ‘Quelle défense européenne en 2020?’, which is the French version of a recent publication with a new preface written by Baroness Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and vice-President of the European Commission.