How does the Treaty of Lisbon modify European Union's foreign policy?

Thèmes abordés

Traité de Lisbonne Union Européenne politique

Résumé du document

Most European citizens expect the European Union (EU) to play a more significant role on the international stage. According to a survey conducted in France in June 2007 , 70% of the French respondents agree with the idea that EU might have a common foreign policy vis-à-vis other countries and 82% of them believe that Member States of the EU should develop the Common Security and Defense Policy.
But in fact, EU's influence remains negligible compared to its economic weight and its resources. Very often, EU is described as an "economic giant but a political dwarf". However, EU is the world's largest market, the leading trading power and it provides more than half of the Foreign Aid for Development Assistance but without the necessary commensurate influence around the world. The EU is indeed a sum of states, which do not have the same conception of the European project. For some states, the EU should be a zone of prosperity and free trade whereas others want the EU to become a center of power in order to counterweight the U.S.
But these differences make that the raise of the EU's personality on an international stage is difficult.
Although there have been many attempts to create a European military and diplomatic entity, European leaders never really reached their goals. Several times, they tried to implement a common foreign policy but each time, they had to cope with internal or external difficulties (European or international difficulties).
It is true that over the years, European institutions acquired significant expertise in foreign relations, security and defense but the complexity of institutional mechanisms impeded to impose itself on the world stage with a clearly defined role.
It is also true that "the EU cannot be regarded as a classical power, as it exerts its influence through what it is and what it represents, rather than through what it does" . It is rather a passive power than an active one.
However, the Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force on 1st December 2009, introduces several changes regarding foreign policy.
We may wonder the effects of the Treaty of Lisbon as regards European Union's foreign policy.
To begin with, we are going to focus on the history of the common foreign policy and then we are going to analyze how EU's will to become a more coherent, effective and capable global actor led to the modifications in terms of common foreign policy.

Extraits

[...] The EU made the choice to encourage the gradual convergence of foreign policies. A European Defence The new treaty brings significant advances for the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), renamed Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The main objectives of the CSDP consist of “peace-keeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter” (paragraph 1 of Article 42 of the TEU). The Petersberg tasks, which were formulated for the first time by the Western European Union (WEU) on 19 June 1992, are updated and new tasks are added (e.g. [...]

[...] After the rejection of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe in 2004, Member States signed the treaty of Lisbon on 13 December 2007. The new treaty includes almost all the reforms regarding foreign policy, which used to be in the Constitutional Treaty. First of all, the Treaty of Lisbon gives the EU a legal personality (Article 47 of the Treaty on the European Union, TEU). The UE can conclude international agreements and join international organizations. This is also the abolishment of the “three pillars structure”. Article 21 (TEU) defines EU's principles and objectives in terms of foreign policy. [...]

[...] How does the Treaty of Lisbon modify European Union's foreign policy? How does the Treaty of Lisbon modify European Union's foreign policy? Summary Introduction The beginning of a European common foreign policy The disappointment of the European Defence Community and the European Political Cooperation The Common Foreign and Security Policy The creation of EU High Representative for the CFSP and the establishment of the ESDP The changes introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon Three main changes: a legal personality, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy A European Defence Introduction Most European citizens expect the European Union to play a more significant role on the international stage. [...]

[...] With the Treaty of Lisbon, the defence becomes a certainty whereas it was just an eventuality before. If the European Council should decide so, the progressive framing of a common defence policy might lead to a common defence (ex-Article 17 of the Treaty on the European Union). According to Article 42 of the consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union, “the progressive framing of a common Union defence policy [ ] will lead to a common defence, when the European Council, acting unanimously, so decides”. [...]

[...] Member States adopt them unanimously and have to defend such positions in international organizations and conferences. These common positions are published in the Official Journal of the European Union. They concern specific countries (sensitive countries like Cuba), crisis situations (for example, Middle East) and horizontal topics (such as the struggle against the illegal diamond trade as a contributor to conflict prevention and reconciliation in Africa) The joint actions: they “shall commit the Member States in the positions they adopt and in the conduct of their activity” (Article J.3, paragraph 4). [...]