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EU foreign policy

With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 and its subsequent implementation, the European Union has gradually assembled the constituent elements of a sui generis 'foreign policy', bringing together various competencies, instruments and resources that were hitherto spread across different institutions and bodies. Although the process is still on-going and progress is, in parts, uneven, certain traits of a more coherent common approach to foreign policy-making are now evident. In the Balkans, the Horn of Africa (both offshore and onshore), the Sahel, or the Middle East, joint and combined forms of external action - including diplomacy, enlargement, CSDP and development activities - are now producing more effective and lasting results.

Analysing the specific actors, instruments, policies, and strategies at the disposal of the Union and assessing their scope and outreach is also a way to illustrate what the EU does in the world - something which is not always known or appreciated by those who directly benefit from its external action, or indeed by European citizens at large. Monitoring performance, in turn, also contributes to improving it, in a constructive manner and on the basis of factual evidence.

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    04November 2008

    This issue of the EUISS newsletter looks at the need to avoid confrontational bipolarity in the wake Georgia conflict, assesses prospects for a regional solution to the Afghanistan conflict, and examines ESDP ten years after the St Malo Anglo-French summit. It also gives a round up of the Institute’s recent seminar series on the European Security Strategy, as well as the latest publications and press clippings.

  • 31October 2008

    The Institute’s 2008 annual conference took place on 30-31 October in Paris. It opened with the traditional address by EU High Representative Javier Solana, who outlined the current challenges in EU foreign policy, particularly in the light of the global financial crisis.

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    23October 2008

    This chronological compilation brings together official documents on European security and defence, including statements, decisions and other material from the relevant EU structures. It is a valuable reference tool for all those interested in the EU’s common foreign and security policy, allowing for quick identification of the key issues on the agenda for the year 2007.

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    15August 2008

    Despite their recent conflict and its impact on relations with the European Union, the futures of both Georgia and Russia are inextricably linked with Europe. The Director of the EUISS discusses the different European paths of the two countries, and presents a vision for the EU’s interaction with them to build a more secure future for the wider Eurasian continent.

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    12August 2008

    The hostilities between Russia and Georgia reflect a lack of long-term strategic thinking on the part of Russia, which is jeopardising relations with the West in order to assert itself as a global power, as well a political climate of increasing nationalism in Georgia. Neither of these factors is constructive in resolving the conflicts over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

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    30July 2008
    By

    Following Ireland’s ‘No’ to the Lisbon Treaty, echoing the French and Dutch voters’ rejection of the Constitutional Treaty in 2005, the EU needs to consider carefully how to win back citizens’ support and thus overcome the fears that are crippling its ability to shape world politics.

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    05June 2008

    The tension between interdependence and power politics will shape the future of the international system. It is in the interest of the European Union to engage established and aspiring global powers in a sustained dialogue on how to confront pressing common challenges.

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    28March 2008

    The newest ESDP mission to Kosovo is a display of unity by the European Union, focused on the goal of ensuring stability grounded on the rule of law, including strict respect for minority rights, in the newly-independent state. The EU must achieve its objective while remaining a magnet for Kosovars and at the same time for the Serbs.

  • 17March 2008

    On 17 March 2008, the Institute hosted a seminar where discussions focused on Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina respectively.

  • 07March 2008

    The Institute hosted a roundtable discussion where participants discussed the French-led proposal for a Union for the Mediterranean, revisited the principles, achievements and challenges of the existing Barcelona Process, and assessed evolving Euro-Mediterranean challenges.

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  • 20January 2004

    Il Medio Oriente, il ruolo della Russia, le minoranze etniche oltre confine e i Balcani. Un'agenda per la Pesc che verrà. L'allargamento progressivo della Comunità prima e dell'Unione Europea poi è stato un grande successo economico e politico.

  • 20January 2004

    «Tre donne intorno al cor ...» - potrebbe essere questo il motto con cui Romano Prodi, il 1 maggio prossimo, accoglierà i nuovi commissari europei che entreranno a far parte del collegio da lui presieduto. I nuovi dieci membri dell'Unione hanno infatti diritto a nominare ciascuno un commissario, portando così la composizione del collegio a 30 membri, anche se solo fino al 1 novembre prossimo.

  • 15January 2004

    2003 was a difficult year for the EU - and so was its epilogue at the European Council held in Brussels in mid-December. Paradoxically, however, 2003 was a positive year for ESDP.

  • 01January 2004

    A few months and a couple of Newsletters ago, we described the outcome of the European Convention as 'half full'. After the failure of the Intergovernmental Conference to finalise a constitutional treaty for the EU, the contrary seems almost inevitable: never before, in fact, has an IGC ended in failure.

  • 01January 2004

    Il 2003 e' stato un anno difficile per l'Unione Europea, fra crisi irachena, crisi del Patto di stabilita' per l'euro, e crisi della Conferenza Intergovernativa (CIG) che avrebbe dovuto varare la nuova "Costituzione"...

  • 01January 2004

    One year after the war in Iraq, the EU is still confronted with two major challenges. The first is in Iraq itself, where the US strategy of stabilisation and democratisation is encountering dramatic setbacks. The second challenge arises from the growing terrorist threat to Western interests and citizens, as seen in the terrible attacks in Madrid on 11 March.

  • 23December 2003

    Par ces temps de troubles transatlantiques et d'imbroglios institutionnels à la CIG, l'adoption prochaine par les chefs d'Etat européens d'une stratégie de sécurité commune mérite d'être saluée. Sous l'égide de Javier Solana, les empoignades récentes entre les vingt-cinq sur la stratégie américaine de frappes préemptives, la légalité de l'usage de la force, l'intervention militaire en Irak, se sont transmuées en quelques mois et quelques pages en une véritable vision européenne commune du monde et du rôle de l'Union dans le monde.

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    01December 2003

    The main subject of this paper is a long-term analysis of the voting behaviour of the European Union (EU) member states in the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN). Data on voting in the General Assembly is readily available, although not always in machine-readable format.

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    01December 2003

    Space is a strategic asset, and its importance both in terms of technology and security cannot be overestimated.

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    01December 2003

    With this Chaillot Paper, the ‘European defence core documents’ collection reaches its fourth volume – stretching from Copenhagen, where the last European Council of 2002 was held, to Brussels, where the last one of 2003 took place.

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