Pursuing European Strategic Autonomy: Up-to-date Results

2016–2020 witnessed significant structural changes in the foreign and security policy of the European Union. External factors encouraged the need to strengthen the EU strategic autonomy not only in the form of particular practical moves related to the establishment and development of new institutions, but also as part of an attempt to formulate a new common discourse. The article examines these processes through the security communities theory, traditionally applied to analyze transatlantic dynamics. This helps to both systemically address the recent changes and identify miscalculations and missing elements in framing the European security community. Since the 2020 PESCO Strategic Review to a certain extent summed up the initial phase of development of the central initiative of the whole process, the article analyzes the so far achieved results in setting up the new agenda for the EU and the prospects of translating it into joint practices. The main assumption posits that the key obstacle for enhancing strategic autonomy is the need to use a collective identity - both a tool for developing institutions and a goal of this process. As a result, neither a new collective identity, nor a functional network of institutions have been built, leaving the EU unprepared to bring the idea of strategic autonomy further.

Conceptualization of Restrictive Measures Policy in the Context of European Security Issues: New Approaches

The changing international situation and growing external challenges have given a new impetus to the further development of the Foreign and Security Policy of the EU. Promoting European interests and values on the world stage and enhancing the EU's ability to act autonomously are among the significant directions of the new strategic agenda of the European Union for 2019‒2024. One of the important foreign policy instruments in the EU's arsenal are restrictive measures against states, individuals and organizations (in the broadest sense). The aim of the study is the processes of conceptualization of the European policy of the application of restrictive measures: the formation of the regulatory framework and the implementation mechanism, taking into account the modern realities of the international and European legal order, in combination with the accumulated doctrinal resources and elements of the progressive development of the law of international responsibility. It is noted that it is in the EU space that the doctrinal potential is being formed, catalyzing the process of diversifying the formats of normative regulation in the sphere of implementing international responsibility. As a result of the study, the authors test the hypothesis that the following substantive components of the noted conceptualization processes correspond to the tasks of “autonomization” of the EU foreign and security policy and “a stronger Europe in the world”: countermeasures of third states; jurisdictional countermeasures; shared responsibility.

The Weimar Triangle: France, Germany, Poland in the Middle East. United Arab Emirates Perspective

The article’s scientific goal is to investigate the Weimar Triangle countries’ relations with the United Arab Emirates. Therefore, the author asks the research question. Are the Weimar Triangle states’ role and significance increasing in the external dimension of the European Union? Based on the example of the United Arab Emirates, the research adopted a hypothesis. It is the statement that after Brexit, the Weimar Triangle countries have a chance to improve their importance in the EU external activities. Apart from case studies, to revise the hypothesis, the author performed a meticulous comparative analysis. Moreover, the research implemented International Practice Theory as an appropriate tool to investigate the presented issue. This empirical research and its findings resulted from over ten years of the author’s direct observation, analysis, and participation in many initiatives, both in the European Union and in the United Arab Emirates. The Middle East for the Weimar Triangle countries is more significant than just from a trade potential perspective. The situation in this region is also affecting Europe, as well as global security architecture. For this reason, one should develop a coherent and comprehensive EU foreign and security policy towards the region, and the Weimar Triangle formula should be one of its pillars.

EUROPEAN UNION’S QUEST FOR STRATEGIC AUTONOMY AND BIDEN’S FOREIGN POLICY

Over the last decade the EU has faced challenges on numerous fronts: economic crisis and slow recovery, refugee crisis, terrorism, Brexit, lack of effectiveness of its foreign and security policy. In recent years, the EU has put new effort to define its purpose and standing in international relations, and it seeks to become strategically autonomous actor. That means an actor with the ability to set priorities and make decisions. As the role of the United States is still pre-eminent in the security of Europe, the EU-US relations have a special bearing on that EU’s ambition. In this paper we provide an overview of the relations between these two actors with the focus on the first year of Joseph Biden presidency, and we argue that through a complex interaction the EU will seek to define its policies independently of the United States, wishing to expand its space for maneuver and action.

13. The institutions of the Common Foreign and Security Policy:

This chapter examines the institutional arrangements in the European Union’s (EU’s) Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The chapter first charts the historical development of this policy, with foreign policy cooperation being one of the last policy areas to emerge at the EU level. Thus, many of the institutions operating in this area have only been recently established, including the High Representative, the European External Action Service, and many of the administrative bodies supporting the implementation of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy, which comprises the EU’s civilian and military operations. The chapter then analyses the main institutional actors involved in the CFSP, focusing on their ability to shape the decision-making and implementation of this policy. The following sections also examine the five dimensions of EU institutional politics and how these play out in this particular area, highlighting the key challenges the EU faces in becoming a fully fledged international actor.

Reflections of EU Migration and Refugee Crisis in Slovak Foreign and Security Policy

At the end of 2014, the numbers of irregular migrants and asylum seekers in the European Union began to sharply increase. This so-called European migration and refugee crisis culminated in 2015, but did not affect all EU Member States to the same extent. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the impacts of “the crisis” in the Slovak Republic. In addition to the recent developments in the area of irregular immigration and numbers of asylum applications, we focus on broader social, political and foreign policy implications. The research is primarily based on the analysis of the official statistics. We compare pre-crisis data, data in the period considered as “the crisis", and the current situation. The Slovak territory had not been influenced significantly by immigration flows during the European migration and refugee crisis. Nevertheless, migration flows became an important topic also in Slovakia: developments within the EU territory raised awareness on the topic among political representatives as well as among the Slovak public. The importance of migratory flows is growing. It reflects the increase in the volume of migratory flows but also how international migration is perceived and interpreted in society.

Migration issues in the EU’s common foreign and security policy – selected aspects

In the discussion on the EU migration policy, it is impossible to evade the issue of the relation between this policy and the EU foreign policy, including EU common foreign and security policy. The subject of this study are selected links between migration issues and the CFSP of the European Union. The presented considerations aim to determine at what levels and in what ways the EU’s migration policy is taken into account in the space of the CFSP as a diplomatic and political (and subject to specific rules and procedures) substrate of the EU’s external action.