This collected volume of essays focuses on two complementary themes: firstly, the theoretical approaches to the study of European Political Cooperation; and secondly, the empirical analysis of EPC activity. The volume does not argue one particular approach to the study of EPC, but rather presents competing, and often conflicting, theoretical perspectives. At the empirical level, a future research agenda is suggested and it is argued that EPC research should become comparative in nature.

European Political Cooperation: Towards a Foreign Policy for Western Europe presents the conclusions of a study group on European Political Cooperation (EPC). This book discusses the EPC and management of foreign policy, Luxembourg and Copenhagen reports, and coordination in the European council and council of ministers. The national inputs into EPC, EPC structures in the nine national capitals, problems of East-West relations, and political cooperation and Euro-Arab dialogue are also deliberated. This text likewise covers the Portuguese revolution and its aftermath, special relations with outside states, possible adaptations of the EPC's structure, and division of labor between the EEC and EPC. This publication is suitable for students and researchers intending to acquire knowledge of the foreign policies for Western Europe.

European Political Co-operation (EPC) is the process by which Member States of the European Community co-ordinate their foreign policies. This book sets out to describe the development of EPC and to trace the influences which have made it what it is today. The arguments about transfer of sovereignty in foreign policy-making, the influence of the United States, the leading role played by France, and the effect on policy of finding organizational solutions in reaction to crises are all examined through a historical account of events over more than thirty years. EPC is the basis from which the European foreign policy of the future will be developed. This is increasingly significant both for the institutional development of the Community and for its impact on world events, yet the procedures and political pressures which go towards shaping EPC are little known and frequently misunderstood. This book will improve understanding of a new form of diplomatic process, of great interest for the future, but which has barely begun.

Basic information about the structure and workings of European Political Cooperation (external relations, common positions in world affairs).

Already an influential actor on the international scene, the European Union continues to debate its foreign policy platform. This collection traces the evolution of an integrated European foreign policy, the actors involved, and recent foreign policy successes and failures. The volume concludes with a discussion of future challenges for - and limitations of - the Common Foreign and Security Policy.