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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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  • 25April 2012

    This seminar was organised by the EUISS in cooperation with the Foundation for the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities to examine the EU’s current capabilities and practices in the domain of mass atrocity prevention.

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    30December 2011
    Edited by

    The increasing levels of transatlantic security cooperation since 9/11 have given birth to new policy instruments. These have often been criticised for shifting the balance between liberty and security. This paper explores new policy avenues worth pursuing in the broader security context.

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    26October 2011

    The Lisbon Treaty opens up the possibility of giving fresh impetus to interparliamentary cooperation in the field of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Staunch parliamentary support is essential if a strong Europe that speaks with one voice and pursues a common foreign policy is to emerge. All of the EU Member States are aware that this is the case and share this goal, as this paper demonstrates.

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    10March 2011

    Can internal and foreign policy actors develop a shared understanding of European security challenges? What are the political and institutional challenges in establishing a ‘holistic’ approach towards European security? The author argues that the EU can strengthen its existing coordination mechanisms by exploiting the possibilities offered by the Lisbon Treaty.

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    14February 2011

    In November 2010 France and Britain embarked on a new era of defence cooperation. Why did they do so? How will it work? And what impact will it have on wider European defence cooperation? In the first in-depth analysis of its kind, the author explores these questions in detail and looks at how Franco-British cooperation can be of benefit to all European states.

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    07December 2010

    Le 13 février 2009 a marqué un tournant majeur dans l’histoire contemporaine du Zimbabwe, avec l’intronisation d’un Gouvernement d’Union nationale. Dans cet Occasional Paper, l'auteur s’efforce de décrypter la politique actuelle de l’UE au regard de ce développement tout en examinant les modalités du réengagement politique et économique de l’UE au Zimbabwe.

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    30November 2010

    L’Afrique, depuis une décennie, est sur la voie d’une « structuration stratégique » dans tous les domaines des affaires internationales. Mais si l’Afrique change vite, les institutions changent lentement. Dans ce Cahier de Chaillot, l'auteur examine comment l’UE relève les défis régionaux avec cohérence et à long terme.

  • 10November 2010

    The third annual EU-Washington Forum, held on 8-9 November 2010 in Washington DC, addressed the challenge of strengthening the EU-US relationship post Lisbon and explored options for reinvigorating the common agenda.

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    20September 2010

    Since 1976, the policies of the EU towards the countries of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) evolved from giving unilateral trade preferences in favour of industrial exports of the Partnership countries to greater financial aid, greater commercial reciprocity and non-economic aspects.

  • 26July 2010

    Organised in cooperation with the Spanish Presidency of the EU, this seminar served as a timely opportunity to reflect on how foreign policy under the Lisbon Treaty should respond to global challenges.

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    01July 2005

    With the European Union’s 2004 round of enlargement, its neighbourhood now stretches from the Balkans to the Southern Caucasus, and from Russia to the Southern Mediterranean. This new neighbourhood suffers from serious deficits in terms of security, development and democracy, which constitute a serious challenge for the EU’s own security.

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    01May 2005

    Depuis le début des années 1990, l'Union poursuit un objectif ambitieux aujourd'hui défini par la Stratégie européenne de Sécurité : contribuer à un monde meilleur. La région du monde à la fois la plus pauvre et la plus sujette à la violence est celle avec laquelle le projet européen entretient une relation datant de ses origines et dont le destin a longtemps été façonné par ses Etats membres : l'Afrique subsaharienne.

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    01April 2005

    Since the EU has assumed responsibility for military operations, questions of democratic legitimacy have become more prominent in European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). Although democracy has been a contested concept, four ‘pillars’ can be distinguished that contribute to a democratically legitimate ESDP. This Occasional Paper analyses each of these pillars.

  • 19February 2005

    On the eve of what will hopefully be a new start to trans-Atlantic relations, it may be worth recalling some of the European Union's achievements in helping to shape a better and more secure international order. Not just words and nice declarations, but facts and a real ability to deliver.

  • 06February 2005

    Para explicar la creciente diferencia entre Estados Unidos y Europa, Robert Kagan, en su libro Poder y debilidad, sugiere que los norteamericanos pueden equipararse a Marte, el dios de la guerra, mientras que los europeos recuerdan a Venus. Kagan no se detiene ahí, pues afirma también que en el mundo peligroso de hoy es mejor ser Marte que Venus, y aplicar la violencia sin vacilación contra dictadores y Estados canallas.

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    01February 2005
    By

    This fifth volume of Core Documents lists the European Union’s decisions and actions in the field of security and defence taken during 2004. Texts concerning ESDP are collected in the first part of this volume. The second part of this work is devoted solely to the Constitutional Treaty.

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    01December 2004

    The discussion on European-Turkish relations is in many cases underpinned with arbitrary historical references and questionable cultural-religious argumentations. These positions are genuinely challenged by the view that Europe is not and should not become a Christian Club, but a zone of cultural and religious diversity.

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    01December 2004

    Following the events of 11 September 2001, Poland emerged as one of the United States’s key allies, arguably its protégé, in Central and Eastern Europe. The close affinity of interests on security matters between the United States and Poland became particularly apparent in Iraq, where Warsaw proved to be a strong and highly vocal supporter of Washington.

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    01December 2004

    L'intervention militaire en Afghanistan d'octobre 2001 a été déterminée uniquement par les attentats du 11 septembre. L'Etat ne peut se reconstruire qu'à partir de la culture politique afghane : il faut pour cela inscrire les réformes dans un cadre idéologiquement légitime (nationalisme, islam), tout en s'adaptant à l'anthropologie politique de l'Afghanistan, où notables et groupes de solidarité locaux jouent un rôle plus important que les grandes tribus ou les ethnies.

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    08November 2004

    The European Security Strategy identifies ‘state failure’ as one of the ‘key threats’ confronting Europe. This is one point of convergence with the 2002 US National Security Strategy. However, implicitly distancing itself from the US, the European Security Strategy recognises that ‘none of the new threats is purely military; nor can [they] be tackled by purely military means.’

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