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From a Regional to a Global Power, in Potency: The EU’s Global Strategy

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The EU in a Trans-European Space

Abstract

This chapter offers an analysis of the potential implications of the 2016 European Global Strategy on the spaces around the EU and further afield. While the European Neighbourhood Policy sought to gradually Europeanise the Mediterranean and the Eastern European and Caucasian countries, the European Global Strategy (EUGS) aims to redefine the EU’s mission in a highly complex and rapidly mutable international environment. The EUGS endeavours to profile a broader mission for the EU, elevating it from a regional to a global player while establishing more balanced relations with the external partners, whether they are states, communities, or people. While it is not yet clear how concretely the EU will operate to further the others’ resilience—the key goal of the EUGS—it is thus clear that it will renounce to exert a structural influence. The EU will not frame the neighbours’ policies, but it will help them instead, guided by a principled pragmatism, to enhance a reforming process domestically generated and crafted.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Article 49 of the TEU states that ‘any European state may apply to become a member of the Union if it respects the common values of the Member States and is committed to their promotion’.

  2. 2.

    See also chapter “Facing a Fragmented Neighbourhood: The EU and Six Eastern Partnership Countries” by Pishchikova in this volume.

  3. 3.

    See also chapter “Russia’s Strategy of Forging Spaces Around Itself” by Penkova in this volume.

  4. 4.

    European External Action Service. (2016). EU Global Strategy Implementation Plan on Security and Defence. Brussels: European External Action Service.

  5. 5.

    On the process of the EUGS see Missiroli (2015).

  6. 6.

    Del Sarto (2016: 225) underlines that ‘the new ENP documents are surprisingly self-critical, particularly regarding the EU’s lack of resolve in promoting democracy and human rights’.

  7. 7.

    See for instance African Development Bank (2014).

  8. 8.

    See Giusti and Fassi (2014).

  9. 9.

    See Chandler (2015).

  10. 10.

    Von Rochau, L. (1868). Foundations of Realpolitik, vol. 2, quoted in Bew (2016).

  11. 11.

    According to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, TENs should contribute to the growth of the internal market and to employment, while pursuing environmental and sustainable development goals.

  12. 12.

    On December 11, 2017, the European Council adopted a decision establishing Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) after receiving a joint notification by member states of their intention to participate. The 25 member states participating in PESCO are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, and Sweden. On November 13, 2017, ministers from 23 member states signed a joint notification on the PESCO and handed it over to the High Representative and the Council. On December 7, 2017, Ireland and Portugal also notified their decision to join PESCO. Accessed February 18, 2018. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2017/12/11/defence-cooperation-pesco-25-member-states-participating/

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy

    Serena Giusti

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  1. Serena Giusti
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Correspondence to Serena Giusti .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy

    Serena Giusti

  2. Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Irina Mirkina

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Giusti, S. (2019). From a Regional to a Global Power, in Potency: The EU’s Global Strategy. In: Giusti, S., Mirkina, I. (eds) The EU in a Trans-European Space. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03679-9_2

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