Globalna strategia Unii Europejskiej: refleksja konstruktywistyczna

Abstract

European Union Global Strategy: a Constructivist ReflectionThis paper examines the potential of a constructivist approach in analysing the European Union’s security strategy area. It focuses on the new EU Global Strategy (EUGS), which was adopted by the Council at the end of June 2016. First, the methodology is explained, followed by discussing the consequence of using the document’s language for EU identity. The paper then focuses on the new title of the strategy that shows a new approach to security strategies within the European External Action Service’s staff. The consequences of building a narrative about the “threatened” but also “needed” and “influential” European Union are underlined here. Furthermore, the new role of the EU in the international scene is described, focusing on the shift from the EU as a civilian power to the EU as a normal power, with an emphasis on the importance of the preservation of the EU as a normative power. The conclusions from using a constructivist approach to examine the EUGS are then presented, which show that mechanisms of the logics of appropriateness, consequence, and persuasion are observed within the document. Moreover, the language of the EUGS could have an influence on EU identity and role on the global stage. The constructivist approach proves that the EU external actions are continuously under construction, and the EUGS is the next step in achieving a more coherent and effective European foreign and security policy.