Abstract
Strategic partnerships are an essential tool of the common foreign policy of the European Union (EU), which should help fulfil its strategic interest – to be an influential global actor, to share responsibility for global security, and together with partners to respond to the current global challenges. Considering that the EU has not yet defined the nature of the strategic partnership, the first objective of this paper is to identify the instrument from a general perspective and to distinguish it from the default category of cooperation. Linking strategic partnership with legal standards, however, allows for the setting of certain criteria of the concept of strategic partnerships for the EU with other key countries and to determine the variability of possible approaches to the specific concept. To define these criteria and the variety of strategic partnerships set by these criteria, is the second goal of the article. If an adequate alternative approach to the concept of the EU is assigned to each individual strategic partner, which is the third objective of this paper, the results indicate the significant diversity of strategic partners of the EU. Based on obtained results, it can be concluded that in order to clarify the concept of the EU’s strategic partnership, it is necessary to take steps that will lead to a gradual convergence of existing forms of strategic partnerships and their focus on strategic issues.
Highlights
The European Union started to rely on the Lisbon Treaty at the end of 2009 and has adopted the document “Europe 2020 – A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth” (European Commission, 2010) in March 2010
Strategic partnerships are an essential tool of the common foreign policy of the European Union (EU), which should help fulfil its strategic interest – to be an influential global actor, to share responsibility for global security, and together with partners to respond to the current global challenges
Considering that the EU has not yet defined the nature of the strategic partnership, the first objective of this paper is to identify the instrument from a general perspective and to distinguish it from the default category of cooperation
Summary
The European Union started to rely on the Lisbon Treaty at the end of 2009 and has adopted the document “Europe 2020 – A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth” (European Commission, 2010) in March 2010. “Comprehensive strategic partnership”, as a high degree of maturity of relations between the two parties, is a foreign policy concept, including equivalent, mutually beneficial and institutionalized cooperation of partner countries in many economic and non-economic areas It includes a joint solution of difficult strategic (security and defensive) issues and challenges of global governance, which have appeared as an outcome of mutual cooperation and concerns only the specific issues and problems in which both parties work together, and share responsibility. Presumption of mutual cooperation between the parties, as well as common solutions to the challenges of different types, is to promote sustainable development, peace and stability, conformity in values (principles) and the strategic interests of both sides; including their common goals, commitments and procedures, all in a long-term manner of sustainability It is a response of global powers to the increasing interdependence of the world, in which a cooperation of key partners is necessary in order to maintain their shared values and interests on a global level
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