The European Union as International Actor, A Pipe Dream?

Abstract

There are, as Ⅰ have come to believe, assets of the EU which help it become-but also shortcomings which stand in the way of it becoming-an international actor of the first order. After revealing the reasons for this ambivalence in assessing the EU, Ⅰ will try to answer the question: Why is the EU unable to speak with ”one voice” in foreign and security affairs at the present time? My answer is as follows: The EU is not yet able to act as an international actor, because precisely some functions are not yet ”communitarized,” in contrast, for instance, to monetary policy. These functions still belong to the national prerogatives of the member states. That is why the EU is only a strictly handicapped international actor at the moment. This brings me to the very character of the EU: It does not by any means intend to become a state, which, by definition, would have a monopoly on power in a human community. The EU is only entrusted with special ”limited authorities,” conferred on it by the member states. This ”limited authorization” is, according to my interpretation, the EU's ”PIN,” i.e., its secret Personal Identification Number, so to speak. This unique character of the EU is hard to understand for advocates and opponents of the EU alike. But the PIN is, as Ⅰ see it, the code to understanding the EU's assets as well as its limits.