European Integratıon (ENG) — Ünite 5 Soru-Cevap

• 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.

• e EU Member States, even the EUitself, have experienced qualified and comprehensive diplomacy.

• Among the EU Member States, France andthe United Kingdom possess nuclear power.

• Moreover, France and the United Kingdomare among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

• The overall defence spending of the EUMember States ranks second after the United States (see www.eda.euuropa.eu).

The Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) imposes the obligation on Member States to endeavour to act as jointly as possible for the sake of the EU’s becoming an in uential foreign policy actor.

• The EU does not possess the characteristicsof a modern nation-state. erefore, not only it does not have a stable and long- term foreign policy strategy, but also lacks a “homeland” or “national interests” that should be protected.

• Most Member States do not want to loseor share their competence in the field of foreign policy, where sensitive issues such as “national sovereignty” and “identity” prevail.

• Some Member States want to maintaintheir special relations with certain regions or countries.

• Sometimes, differences of opinion onforeign policy arise among the EU Member States.

• There are differing national views on thedefence policy.

• Decisions regarding defence expenditureremain exclusively within national competence, that is, outside the framework of the EU.

The EU is considered a “civilian power” or “soft power” because of its problems with using its resources.

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. erefore, the Member States’ increasing cooperation on foreign policy matters since 1970 was realized in a temporary manner and outside of the Union framework.

The members of the Troika changed every six months. is was a limitation to ensuring the continuity and making long-term planning within the framework of the EPC. is limitation adversely a ected the EC’s e orts to adopt joint positions.

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.

• the security of the EU;
• state and societal resilience;
• an integrated approach to con icts and crises
• cooperative regional orders; and
• global governance for the 21st century
•  

• preserve peace

• strengthen international security

• promote international cooperation

• develop and consolidate democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights & fundamental freedoms

Security and defence are the most problematic policy fields in the EU. In these fields, integration and even intergovernmental cooperation have remained at a very low level.The main reason is the Member States’ considerations regarding national sovereignty.

The EU currently conducts six military missions and operations on land and sea, to assist in creating a safe and secure environment, ghting pirates or disrupting networks of tra ckers. ree of them are military training missions who provide advice and training to local security forces in Mali, Somalia and the Central African Republic. To strengthen coordination and cooperation on the ground, a single command centre for these military training missions – the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) – was established in 2017. e MPCC is also empowered to plan and conduct military missions of up to 2,500 troops in the future.

The High Representative of the Union for Foreign A airs and Security Policy (High Representative) is in charge of coordinating and carrying out the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), as well as the Common Security and Defence Policy. The High Representative is at the same time one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Commission and as such ensures that the EU’s overall external action is consistent.

• Democracy,

• The rule of law,

• The universality and indivisibility of humanrights and fundamental freedoms,

• Respect for human dignity,

• The principles of equality and solidarity,

• Respect for the principles of the UN Treatyand the principles of international law (see Article 21 of the TEU).

a. to safeguard the Union’s values, fundamental interests, security, independence and integrity,

a) defining the general guidelines,

b) adopting decisions defining:

1. actions to be undertaken by the Union,

2. positions to be taken by the Union,

3. arrangements for the implementation of the decisions referred to in clauses (i) and (ii).

c) strengthening systematic cooperation between Member States in the conduct of policy.

The first one is that in every new process of reforming the Treaty, foreign and security policy was always kept, at first, outside the framework of the TEU and then, outside the TFEU.

The European Council identifies the Union’s strategic interests, sets the aims of and defines the general guidelines for the common foreign and security policy, including for defence-related matters (see Article 26(1) of the TEU).

The Council of Ministers takes centre stage in the CFSP processes. Much of the Council of the Ministers’ work is administered through a layered structure of meetings attended by the representatives of Member States

With the Treaty of Amsterdam, a new position called the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy was established. The aim for creating this position was to identify the addressee regarding the EU foreign policy and to bolster the EU’s capacity to facilitate the cooperation between Member States.

Since the London Report published in 1981, the Commission has been responsible for the issues in the field of external relations. However, the Commission’s position in respect of the intergovernmental nature of the foreign policy area and the arrangements in the Treaties is very weak, for instance when compared to foreign trade policy. Before the Maastricht Treaty, the Commission had not the right to bring foreign policy issues and proposals before the Council of Ministers.