Suchergebnisse

The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union (EU) faces an identity crisis to which the member states do not seem eager to put an end. Making incremental changes without defining the objectives will not rise the trust in the EU as a strong international actor. Thus, this paper aims to indicate the supranational and intergovernmental characteristics of the CFSP in order to highlight that the neofonctionalist model of governance has also shaped a policy area believed to belong exclusively to the member states' power. The paper analyses the supranational and intergovernmental dimensions of the CFSP in order to provide a better understanding of how this policy is constructed.

Cooperation and trust between Russia and the European Union (EU), two of the most important international actors, have reached the lowest level since the Cold War. The main bone of contention has been the future of countries situated in Eastern Europe, in the so-called 'in-between'/'buffer' region. On the one hand, the EU aims at strengthening links with the six Eastern European partners – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine – by encouraging reforms and by luring them to embrace European core values. However, Russia's counteractions have mitigated the EU's plans towards its vicinity - as the case of Ukraine best points out. Apart from the geopolitical competition over the 'shared' neighbourhood, the EU-Russia relation has started to depend heavily on the energy issues further complicating the already complex background. Russia uses the energy card as tool to influence the shape of the regional context, whereas the EU responds with a superior technological advantage and a more attractive economic and political agenda. Having this a backdrop, this paper aims to underline that a clear competition between the two players exists, fomented by a fundamental ideological difference in perceiving the outside world.