AVRUPA ENTEGRASYONU

Given its size and resources, the EU is an important actor in international relations. In this respect, it has the necessary resources to adopt efficient and effective policies within the framework of the CFSP. Among these resources are:
• The EU consisting of countries, each of which is considered powerful in international relations, such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Poland, has the capacity to play an effective role at global scale.
• The EU Member States, even the EU itself, have experienced qualified and comprehensive diplomacy.
• Among the EU Member States, France and the United Kingdom possess nuclear power.
• Moreover, France and the United Kingdom are among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
• The overall defence spending of the EU Member States ranks second after the United States (see www.eda.euuropa.eu)

Despite these powerful and decisive statements
laid down in the ToL, the Union faces a number of
obstacles to Member States’ pursuit of a common
foreign and defence policy. Among these obstacles
are as follows:
• The EU does not possess the characteristics
of a modern nation-state. Therefore, not
only it does not have a stable and longterm foreign policy strategy, but also lacks
a “homeland” or “national interests” that
should be protected.
• Most Member States do not want to lose
or share their competence in the field of
foreign policy, where sensitive issues such
as “national sovereignty” and “identity”
prevail.
• Some Member States want to maintain
their special relations with certain regions
or countries.
• Sometimes, differences of opinion on
foreign policy arise among the EU Member
States.
• There are differing national views on the
defence policy.
• Decisions regarding defence expenditure
remain exclusively within national
competence, that is, outside the framework
of the EU.

In the EU, where cooperation in the area of foreign policy is not regulated by the Union Treaties, the origins of the CFSP lay in the European Political Cooperation (EPC), which was initiated by Luxembourg Report (a.k.a. Davignon Report) published in 1970.

Member States believed that due to certain factors, the EC should immediately go beyond moderate economic sanctions or general declarations that often remained on paper. Firstly, the collapse of communism in the Eastern Bloc in the wake of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union changed the balance of power in international relations. Secondly, one of the main highlights of the early 1990s was the reunification of East and West Germany. The third factor was the 1990-1991 Gulf War, which started with the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. The fourth factor is the process of the disintegration of Yugoslavia that started in 1991. The fifth factor was the increased intergovernmental cooperation with the SEA in the field of foreign policy and security, which was initiated following the changes mentioned above.

The global strategy set the following five priorities for EU action:
• the security of the EU;
• state and societal resilience;
• an integrated approach to conflicts and crises;
• cooperative regional orders; and
• global governance for the 21st century

EU foreign and security policy seeks to:
• preserve peace
• strengthen international security
• promote international cooperation
• develop and consolidate democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights & fundamental freedoms.

The first significant step in the area of defence policy within the framework of the EU was taken at the Summit held jointly by France and the United Kingdom in December 1998. In fact, France and the United Kingdom adopted different stances on the formulation of a European defence policy. France favoured a defence policy that is more independent of the United States, whereas the United Kingdom attached importance to transatlantic relations and, advocated the implementation of defence policies within the framework of close relations with the United States. These two countries’ call for the establishment of a clearer and stronger EU security capability generated the historical Saint-Malo
Declaration.

The Brussels European Council Meeting of December 2003 adopted the European security strategy entitled “A Secure Europe in a Better World”, which was drawn up under the authority of the EU’s High Representative for the CFSP. The strategy focused on crisis prevention and crisis management; “an effective multilateral system” was highlighted. In this respect, action through the medium of the UN and the maintenance of regional organizations were recommended. Furthermore, the need for autonomous EU-led operations was stressed.

The Correspondents’ Group meets at least once a month with the participation of the Commission and diplomats responsible for the coordination of the CFSP within Foreign Ministries. The Correspondents’ Group serves as a liaising mechanism between the Member States’ Foreign Ministers.

The European Commission
-Since the London Report published in 1981, the Commission has been responsible for the issues in the field of external relations.

-The High Representative, who is also a member of the Commission, presides over the Foreign Affairs Council. This enables the Commission to play a key role in the field of the CFSP. The High Representative assists the Commission by making more extensive use of policy instruments other than foreign policy instruments (such as trade policies, aid policies) in a more coordinated fashion.

France and the United Kingdom are among the five permanent members of
the UN Security Council, along with China, the United States and Russian Federation.

• The EU does not possess the characteristics of a modern nation-state. Therefore, not
only it does not have a stable and longterm foreign policy strategy, but also lacks a “homeland” or “national interests” that should be protected.
• Most Member States do not want to lose or share their competence in the field of foreign policy, where sensitive issues such as “national sovereignty” and “identity” prevail.
• Some Member States want to maintain their special relations with certain regions or countries.
• Sometimes, differences of opinion on foreign policy arise among the EU Member States.
• There are differing national views on the defence policy.
• Decisions regarding defence expenditure remain exclusively within national competence, that is, outside the framework of the EU.

The EPC did not have an organizational structure of its own until the Single European Act (SEA) was introduced, and it was administered by the Troika. The members of the Troika changed every six months.

The SEA contained provisions regarding European cooperation in the field of foreign policy (see Title III of the SEA). Hence, with the official acknowledgement of the EPC, Member States have committed to jointly identify and endeavour to implement a European foreign policy (see Article 30 of the SEA).

The EC was “an economic giant, but “a political dwarf”. Under the framework of the EPC, the EC Member States did not have any common, influential stance reflecting the European viewpoint. The EPC made the EC and its Member States adopt not active, but rather a reactive attitude towards international developments. The fact that the EC lacked a common foreign policy and that Member States failed to act together in the face of international developments brought about the question of a foreign policy identity.

The elimination of the East-West division and the dissipation of tensions in Europe, strategically speaking, put an end to Europe’s being caught in the middle between two superpowers. In the context of changing power balances, European countries tended to establish close relations as well as seek alliance with the United States. Another significant change was that nuclear and military capacity became less important, whereas economic power and geographic location came into prominence.

In 2016 the High Representative launched the Global Strategy for the EU’s Foreign and Security Policy to enhance stability in the European neighbourhood and beyond, boost security and defence and deal with challenges such as energy security, irregular migration, climate change and terrorism.

The priorities as to the CSDP set out at the Brussels EU Summit of December 2013 are as follows: (i) increasing the effectiveness, visibility and impact of the CSDP; (ii) improving civilian and military operational capabilities; (iii) strengthening the European defence industry.

The EU, with an aim of achieving the following aims, defines and pursues common policies and actions, and works for a high level of cooperation in all fields of international relations:
a. to safeguard the Union’s values, fundamental interests, security, independence and integrity,
b. to strengthen and support democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the principles of international law,
c. to preserve peace, prevent conflicts and strengthen international security, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, in compliance with the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and with the objectives of the Charter of Paris, including those relating to external borders,
d. to cultivate the sustainable economic, social and environmental development of developing countries, with the priority of eliminating poverty,
e. to encourage the integration of all countries into the world economy, including via the progressive removal of restrictions on international trade,
f. to contribute to the formulation of international measures to preserve and improve the quality of the environment and the sustainable management of global natural resources, in order to ensure sustainable development,
g. to assist populations, countries and regions facing natural or man-made disasters,
h. to promote an international system based on stronger multilateral cooperation and good global governance

The Foreign Affairs Council is the main decision-making body of the CFSP. The Foreign Affairs Council formulates the common foreign and security policy based on the general guidelines and strategic lines defined by the European Council. The Foreign Affairs Council takes the decisions needed for defining and implementing this policy (see Article 26(2) of the TEU).

The European Parliament’s roles in the foreign policy area are restricted to counselling,
monitoring and evaluating. It may have some exceptions.

The European Parliament does not play any role in the processes of decision-making and policy implementation in the area of the CFSP. Yet, it has the competence to discuss the foreign policy issues during the budget negotiations. Administrative expenditure in the field of the CFSP is financed from the EU budget. Operating expenditures arising from the implementation of the CFSP, expenditures arising from operations having military or defence implications and cases where the Council unanimously decides otherwise are covered by the EU budget