Economic and political mechanisms of the European Union foreign policy : the case of the Maghreb

Abstract

The evolution of the European Union's Foreign Policy (EU FP) has attracted increasing attention in the growing literature on Europe's external relations. One might ask several questions on why a regional economic organization such as the EU should struggle for its own foreign policy. Why is it important to improve the EU's external relations? The answer to such questions would be, progressive adaptation in the midst of continuity, this being a defining feature of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The impact of the EU foreign policy co-operation on the world beyond the EU member states is an essential one as it involves several ways of streaming Europe's considerable economic resources into external political power. Apart from this the EU has an ever increasing aim of improving coherence among its external policy domains thus enhancing its role in world politics. Differing from many other economic goals such as the single market or single currency, the aim of a "common" foreign and security policy is rather vague. Such a policy, like political union, only implies a continuing process of action evolving over time. It is inappropriate to compare the EU's foreign policy with other policy domains of the European Community (EC) since each embeds different institutional formations.