Suchergebnisse

The Iraq War has once again spotlighted the divisions within the European Union that have prevented a unified foreign policy & strategy in its leadership. While the common market & currency, along with the accession of ten new member states have contributed greatly to a sense of European unity, the reliance on majority consensus & "soft security" neither ensures effective supranational policy making, nor does it eliminate the tension caused by the international leadership claims of three European Union members: GB, France, & Germany. The former two are both nuclear powers & permanent members of the Security Council, while the latter is one of the world's leading economies, & the dominant one in Europe; each has its own interests & orientations (eg, the transatlantic reflex of GB, the Continental reflex of France, & the pacifism of Germany). It is proposed that the European Union give more coordinating & directive power to the Union Ministry for Foreign Affairs to ensure a common foreign policy for the continent. A. Siegel

Belgium's permanent representative to the European Union's Core Group (at its 23 May 2003 colloquium in Belgium) argues that the European Union can rely on its existing cadres to formulate a lasting, coherent, unified foreign & defense policy, one based on the model of increased cooperation, flexibility, institutional reform, consensus building, & planning. Reviewed are some of the strategies currently in place to achieve this, particularly those agreed on in the Treaty of Nice. A. Siegel