Towards a Common Foreign and Security Policy

Abstract

While it is tempting to ask how far the EU Member States have reached in their efforts to forge a common foreign and security policy, this question always eludes an answer. We simply lack suitable ways of measuring “how far” integration has proceeded in this area. In the field of foreign and security policy, namely, the Member States have created a unique and historically unprecedented system, within which each Member State continues to pursue its own national foreign policy alongside the common foreign policy of the Union. The only concrete method of measurement available, therefore, is to compare the EU’s foreign policy with itself – over time. Such a comparison can at least reveal if there have been any marked changes over the years. Whether the resulting picture is of a glass which is half full or half empty remains for each to judge. One quick comparison of this kind – between a situation some 30 years ago and a somewhat similar one more recently – may serve as a starting point.