scholarly journals The EU Global Strategy – 5 Years After. The Appropriateness in Face of the Dynamic Strategic Realities

2021 ◽  
pp. 39-57
Author(s):  
Piotr Śledź

The objective of the article is to verify to what extent the European Union Global Strategy (EUGS) keeps up with the main global trends (at the level of international order as well as in relation to the global distribution of power) and the processes shaping the EU member states security environment of a regional scale which are perceptible from the perspective of five years following the EUGS adoption. This is also what the main research question concerns – to what extent do the diagnosis and postulates formulated inside the discussed document follow such processes in relation to the 2016–2021 period? For this reason too, the key research approach employed within the study is a critical analysis of source material. The EU Global Strategy mostly appropriately diagnoses and interprets the realities affecting the member states security – especially when it comes to enduring processes of a global scale regarding the erosion of the liberal international order as well as the roots of possible threats for international security in its military dimension – and formulates the postulates that are pragmatic and detailed. At the same time the document underestimates some of important occurrences or even does not refer to them at all. Examples of such omissions were given in the paper.

Afrika Focus ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Delputte

This report presents the proceedings of the eld research conducted in the framework of a doctoral research on the European Union (EU) as an emerging coordinator in development cooperation. This research aims to seek in-depth and interpreted understanding of the paradox between the EU’s ambitions on the one hand and practice on the ground on the other by investigating the EU’s role in four sub-Saharan African countries (Tanzania, Zambia, Burkina Faso and Senegal). As such, it aims to add empirical evidence to the debate on the role of the EU as a development actor. More specifically, it investigates how the ambitions of the EU are translated at country level and in which situations the EU is more/less likely to act as a coordinator, making use of a pragmatist research approach. This approach is especially suited to problem-driven research that aims to understand a complex phenomenon. The article introduces the research question and the rationale, gives an overview of the research approach and the methodological considerations and ends with a summary of the research process and the preliminary findings of the eld research. Key words: EU development policy, aid effectiveness, coordination, pragmatism, interview research 


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luís Barroso ◽  
Marco Cruz

As a grand strategy, European Union Global Strategy (EUGS) is a roadmap to convert the European Union (EU) in a key strategic actor. The evidence of some conceptual vulnerabilities, particularly the EU lack of classical means and strategic autonomy, limits its implementation. Thus, this article aims to find some relevant actions that the EU needs to put in place to enhance her global image as a credible and specialized actor where the power of her strategic partners, as NATO and United Sates, need to be complemented. To that effect, first, the EU must demonstrate leadership and mobilize the support of member states to carry out its strategy. Second, it must leverage its strategic autonomy by intervening in crises and conflicts where the military means are not the most important. Third, it must focus on preventing or solving the problems in the EU’s neighbourhood as it will suffer direct repercussions if it fails to do so. Implementing the EUGS will require a generic but encompassing grand strategy concept; to communicate its achievements through annual reviews, laying a foundation upon which the EU can build its internal and external credibility, providing it with the strategic autonomy it so direly needs. Finally, the EU must invest on Europeanization processes by ‘transforming’ societies through the ‘global’ application of EU instruments.


Author(s):  
R. Alonzi

The article delves into the influence of the migration phenomenon on the complex process of the European political Identity-building process. The main research question is: why do migration processes erode the identity of the European Union? Or: what type of European identity is the result of these migratory processes?Firstly, the author defines the difference between European identity and identity of European Union. The character of the latter, being the result of a negotiation process between its members on the shared values to be adopted and the meanings that the Union must assume for its citizens, can be only political. The approaches suggested, sometimes even indirectly, by studies conducted on the matter allow us to deduce that the dynamics of migration processes negatively affect the creation of the political identity of the European Union. Instead, they reinforce its apolitical character. On the one hand, there is not a shared vision between the EU Member States of rules and frameworks to manage migration phenomenon. While there is no agreement between the EU Member States on how to manage migration, the integration policies adopted by the various States are being transformed into policies of disintegration of national identities, without any advantage for the evolution of supranationality. Multiculturalism and pluralism, cosmopolitan citizenship, are variables that run counter to the basic principles of the legitimacy of European power, namely European citizenship, European cultural universalism, the idea of the collective and the particular identity of Europeans.The author concludes that it is, therefore, “metapolitical” values, rather than the structure of the Union itself, that undermines the foundations of European political identity. It is in this context that the disidentitary potential of migratory phenomena finds the conditions for its full accomplishment. It is no coincidence that the metapolitical value that current liberal thought cannot do without is “politically correct”. The “political correctness” is a privileged dimension, which helps European elites interpret the problem of migration in a political sense, and this is reflected in the monolithic nature of the applied narrative, with which they interpret the phenomenon of migration.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brice Didier

  The crisis of the Liberal International Order (LIO) has resulted in, and been amplified by, the unilateral turn taken by the United States (US) under the Trump presidency. In this sense, ‘America First’ resulted in revisionism by the system leader vis-à-vis an order the US created and led for decades. This shift away from a historical US liberal hegemony has been even more consequential as it resulted in a leadership crisis and translated into episodes of rupture within the transatlantic community, which constitutes the backbone of the LIO. While the European Union (EU) initially positioned itself as a follower of the US, today it appears to oppose American ‘illiberalism’ through its rhetoric of ‘principled pragmatism’, expressed in an increasing number of issues. Building on the concept of leadership, this article analyses whether and to what extent the EU has the willingness to uphold LIO leadership and to what extent it is strategically equipped to do so. Following an analysis of the 2003 European Security Strategy and 2016 EU Global Strategy in order to comprehend better the EU’s relationship with the LIO and its willingness to lead, the article builds on two brief case studies: the America First trade policy and the Iran nuclear agreement. In turn, this facilitates examination of the EU’s capacity to lead and determination of the extent to which this leadership is accepted by other actors. The article argues that, while being limited by American preponderance over international issues, the EU is faced with a willingness-capacity gap but still attempts to uphold the LIO through pragmatic leadership by hedging.


Afrika Focus ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-107
Author(s):  
Sarah Delputte

This report presents the proceedings of the field research conducted in the framework of a doctoral research on the European Union (EU) as an emerging coordinator in development cooperation. This research aims to seek in-depth and interpreted understanding of the paradox between the EU's ambitions on the one hand and practice on the ground on the other by investigating the EU's role in four sub-Saharan African countries (Tanzania, Zambia, Burkina Faso and Senegal). As such, it aims to add empirical evidence to the debate on the role of the EU as a development actor. More specifically, it investigates how the ambitions of the EU are translated at country level and in which situations the EU is more/less likely to act as a coordinator, making use of a pragmatist research approach. This approach is especially suited to problem-driven research that aims to understand a complex phenomenon. The article introduces the research question and the rationale, gives an overview of the research approach and the methodological considerations and ends with a summary of the research process and the preliminary findings of the field research.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4 (1)) ◽  
pp. 39-54
Author(s):  
Robert Grzeszczak

The issue of re-nationalization (disintegration and fragmentation) of integration process is manifested by the will of some of the Member States to verify their relations with the European Union. In the age of an economic crisis of the EU and in relation to the large migration of the population, there has emerged strong social and political criticism, on the European level, of the integration process, with some Member States even consideringtheir withdrawal from the EU. In those States, demands forextending the Member States’ competences in the field of some EU policies are becoming more and more popular. The legal effects of the above-mentioned processes are visible in the free movements of the internal market, mainly within the free movement of persons. Therefore, there are problems, such as increased social dumping process, the need to retain the output of the European labour law, the issue of the so-called social tourism, erosion of the meaning of the EU citizenship and the principle of equal treatment.


2020 ◽  
pp. 97-105
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Kusztykiewicz-Fedurek

Political security is very often considered through the prism of individual states. In the scholar literature in-depth analyses of this kind of security are rarely encountered in the context of international entities that these countries integrate. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to key aspects of political security in the European Union (EU) Member States. The EU as a supranational organisation, gathering Member States first, ensures the stability of the EU as a whole, and secondly, it ensures that Member States respect common values and principles. Additionally, the EU institutions focus on ensuring the proper functioning of the Eurozone (also called officially “euro area” in EU regulations). Actions that may have a negative impact on the level of the EU’s political security include the boycott of establishing new institutions conducive to the peaceful coexistence and development of states. These threats seem to have a significant impact on the situation in the EU in the face of the proposed (and not accepted by Member States not belonging to the Eurogroup) Eurozone reforms concerning, inter alia, appointment of the Minister of Economy and Finance and the creation of a new institution - the European Monetary Fund.


Author(s):  
Elena Sorokina

The preliminary ruling procedure is an essential feature of the EU legal system, which is a unique cooperation tool as part of the dialogue between the Court of Justice of the EU and national courts of the Member States. Its main purpose is to ensure uniform interpretation and application of the provisions of EU law with all Member States and to preserve the uniformity of the European legal system. The continuous use by national courts of the Member States of the mechanism of preliminary ruling and constructive inter-judicial cooperation, the Court of Justice has developed an extremely extensive case law on the prohibition of discrimination and with the result to introduce substantial changes in European anti-discrimination law.The preliminary rulings of the Court of Justice have shown its inclination to expand notions of what constitutes discrimination and in most cases the Court prompt by the desire to interpret the provisions of European law so as to ensure the full effectiveness of the law, as well as a willingness to promote and strengthen protection against discrimination in Europe. While the protection against discrimination on some grounds is stronger than others, however, the preliminary rulings of the Court of Justice are important contribution to the transformation of anti-discrimination law, promote change in the national legislation of the Member States and provide the more effective protection of human rights in general.


Author(s):  
Frank Vandenbroucke

This contribution argues for a truly reciprocal social investment pact for Europe: member states should be committed to policies that respond to the need for social investment; simultaneously, member states’ efforts in this direction—notably efforts by those in a difficult budgetary context—should be supported in a tangible way. Social investment is a policy perspective that should be based on a broad consensus between people who may entertain certain disagreements regarding the level of their empirical and/or normative understanding of the social world. For that reason, the expression of an ‘overlapping consensus’ is used for delineating social investment advocacy. Data on education spending show that we are far removed from a social investment perspective at the European Union (EU) level. This underscores the fact that social investment advocates need to clearly consider the role the EU has to play in social investment progress.


Author(s):  
Frank Schimmelfennig ◽  
Thomas Winzen

Differentiated integration is a durable feature of the European Union and a major alternative for its future development and reform. This book provides a comprehensive conceptual, theoretical and empirical analysis of differentiation in European integration. It explains differentiation in EU treaties and legislation in general and offers specific accounts of differentiation in the recent enlargements of the EU, the Euro crisis, the Brexit negotiations and the integration of non-member states. Differentiated integration is a legal instrument that European governments use regularly to overcome integration deadlock in EU treaty negotiations and legislation. Instrumental differentiation adjusts integration to the heterogeneity of economic preferences and capacities, particularly in the context of enlargement. By contrast, constitutional differentiation accommodates concerns about national self-determination. Whereas instrumental differentiation mainly affects poorer (new) member states, constitutional differentiation offers wealthier and nationally oriented member states opt-outs from the integration of core state powers. The book shows that differentiated integration has facilitated the integration of new policies, new members and even non-members. It has been mainly ‘multi-speed’ and inclusive. Most differentiations end after a few years and do not discriminate against member states permanently. Yet differentiation is less suitable for reforming established policies, managing disintegration, and fostering solidarity, and the path-dependency of core state power integration may lead to permanent divides in the Union.


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