CONFLICT AND COOPERATION IN THE EU’S FOREIGN POLICY: THE QUEST FOR POST-LISBON COHERENCE
Journal Title: Challenges of the Knowledge Society - Year 2015, Vol 5, Issue 0
Abstract
The appointment of a double-hatted High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR) and the creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS) were two of the main innovations brought by the Lisbon Treaty to the European Union’s external policies. While the appointment of the HR was purely political, the creation of the EEAS entailed a deep restructuring of the EU foreign policy apparatus, unveiling the fierce competition between institutions in the post-Lisbon framework. According to their mandates, the High Representative and the External Action Service should increase coherence in the European Union’s external action, thus answering to ongoing criticisms about the lack of a „single voice”. This is nevertheless counter intuitive to classical studies of international cooperation which usually predict that an increasing number of actors decreases the likelyhood of cooperation or the efficiency of outcomes. Based on the critical analysis of EU documents and the academic literature, as well as semi-structured interviews with EU officials in Brussels, this paper makes the case for studying the EU external policies as a fertile ground for both conflict and cooperation between institutions, and argues that the EU’s ability to use its instruments for post-conflict stabilisation in a coherent manner in the post-Lisbon era should be a relevant test for its foreign policy. By focusing mainly on the contribution that the High Representative and the EEAS bring to the European Union’s involvement in Kosovo, the study explores the concept of coherence, understood as the synergy between EU policies and the activity of the institutions which implement them. Finally, the study will analyse the emergence of an EU “comprehensive approach” to post-conflict stabilisation derived from the experience in the Western Balkans.
Authors and Affiliations
Monica OPROIU
Keywords
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