Governing Global Spaces: the roles of the European Union and other major powers

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article offers a comparative assessment of the current roles of the European Union (EU) in the governance of the Global Spaces − the atmosphere, the high seas, the poles, outer space, and cyberspace. It does so from a twofold perspective: first, it compares the EU’s capacity to act and roles across the Global Spaces, drawing on actorness and role theory. Second, to contextualize the EU’s roles, it contrasts them with those of the United States, China and Russia. The findings show that the EU is still in the process of calibrating its roles in the governance of most of these Global Spaces. It is primarily a norm defender, which distinguishes its external action from the more competitive approaches of other major powers. The EU’s recent attempt to become more strategic has, for now, led to a gap between its role conception and performance, largely due to its limited actorness.