Is the European Union a unified actor in world politics? The world’s leading economic power is still struggling to find its role in shaping and maintaining global peace, free trade and commerce. How successful is the EU ́s Common Foreign and Security Policy and its institutions really?

This book considers the principal challenges facing the European Union, which has been buffeted by a series of profound crises, both internal and external. These range from the future of Ukraine, the Union’s reactions to China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, how to help stabilize countries to its south, and relations with the United States. The core argument is that the EU lacks a meta-narrative that could indicate priorities and linkages between the various continental, regional, national and thematic strategies. As a result, the EU often appears to be a confusing and even contradictory actor to many international partners. In response to these challenges the EU needs to develop a deeper sense of strategic awareness and confidence so that it may give a more convincing response to fundamental questions about the Union’s role, purpose and identity in a changing world.

First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book examines how the European Union (EU) is perceived beyond its borders in the US; the Middle East: Israel, Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Iran; Russia; China; India; Brazil and South Africa. The book also analyses the main perceptions of the EU in some key international institutions, including the World Bank; World Trade Organization, United Nations, African Union; and transnational actors, including non-Western media such as Al Jazeera. It seeks to provide a thorough analysis of the implications that these perceptions might have for the global role of the EU. By taking this approach and by providing both conceptual and empirical arguments, the volume provides an innovative perspective on the analysis of the EU as a global actor. It also strengthens a research agenda on the EU external image: an underdeveloped area of investigation in which the editors and the main contributors to this volume have played a pioneering role in the past few years. It will be of strong interest to academics and students of international politics, European studies and development studies.

In a complex, connected and contested world, the European Union remains fully committed to multilateralism and to the rules-based global order with the United Nations at its core, promoting peace and security and developing stable partnerships, while defending universal rights and freedoms. This commitment makes the EU a reliable and predictable partner for countries and organisations around the world, be it the Paris Climate Agreement, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the International Criminal Court or the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The European Union is the biggest investor in building strong international relations, establishing strategic economic partnerships agreements with key players all over the world. The EU is a major trade power, being the biggest trading partner for almost any country in the world. During this Commission’s term, the EU has concluded trade agreements with 12 countries, including Japan, Canada and several African countries. The EU is also the main provider and the main destination of foreign direct investments in the world. The EU set up the External Investment Plan to support countries in Africa and the EU Neighbourhood to mobilise up to €44 billion in investments by 2020.

This timely book investigates the EU’s multi-faceted development as a global actor, unpacking its legal mission to be a ‘good’ actor as well as exploring the complexities of fulfilling this objective. It elicits critical reflections on the question of ‘goodness’ in EU external relations from descriptive, analytical and normative perspectives, and examines which metrics of actorness are useful in tackling this subject.