A study of the European Union's external relations in reflecting the Union's growing importance as a world global player

Abstract

With the end of the Second World War, after five hundred years of domination over the other continents, Europe ceased to be at the centre of the world. Born in the aftermath of World War II, the EEC was not created to become a world power. The original treaties did not include any provisions on foreign policy cooperation but focused on the creation of a common market and the gradual approximation of economic policies. The decision to concentrate efforts on the less sensitive field of economic integration did not mean that the EEC was purely an inward-looking enterprise. The EEC started developing relations with the m.it of the world through u common policy of trade and development assistance. As the Union expanded and took on more responsibilities it started defining its relationships with the rest of the world. In 1973, the year of the first enlargement with the UK, Ireland and Denmark, the Norwegian scholar Johan Galtung published one of the first most elaborate studies on the future role of the European Community in the world. Nearly forty years later, the scenario had changed but the question about Europe's external representation and its global role still remains a matter of concern. A serious understanding of the EU's role in the world requires background knowledge on the EU's historic trajectory and the international context within which this role developed. This dissertation examines the history of the EU's external role and investigates the major challenges of the future. The area of external representation of the EU has been a significant area of growth. The year 2009 was a year of substantial change for the Union. After almost ten years of long negotiations and many modifications, the Lisbon Treaty was finally ratified by all the twenty-seven member 8tates. One of the major changes that this Treaty brought concerns the external relations of the EU. The establishment of the President of the European Council and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, assisted by a European External Action Service is generally perceived as a step towards the creation of an EU 'super state'. These arguments are naturally not entirely wrong.