the european union lecture 11.ppt

EUs relations to great powers Lecture no. 11 The EU and international relations EU as a subsystem of IR A security community; a heavily institutionalized alliance; a federalizing political system External competences varies from area to area. Strong on the economy but weaker in strategic foreign policy Need to forge consensus among member states and aggregate national interests Need to forge an external identity that all member states can adhere to But, interesting as an example of peaceful regional integration Strength and weaknesses Peace and economic development in Europe Intra-European competition contained Strong influence on neighbours that want to join Provided agreement is reached, EU carries weight through size and economic wealth Room for bilateral approaches and accommodation of unwilling member states Need much time for internal negotiations Cannot always create aggregate interests among member states Let itself be divided Lack of coherence in policy scope create inconsistency in policy approach Not present in UNSC, IMF, World Bank as one National bilateral approaches often preferred by big member states EU as a power in international relations A normative, atypical power Traditionally reluctant/unable to take a stance on issues of international politics Increasingly building harder approaches to certain kind of security threats Gaining actorsness in military security Using national and European resources in combined efforts Place importance on soft aspects of power which are important in peaceful, stable relations Peace-keeping Reconciliation Reconstruction Rule of law Strength and weaknesses Power of attraction Belief in universal values Coherent soft power message shared by the member states Seeks to influence economic, social and political structures of partner countries Important instruments and resources of soft-power type, economic, social etc acquiring capabilities in hard power Engages with civil society actors Improvement with Lisbon T