European Union foreign policy
Subtitle: from effectiveness to functionality
By: Christopher J. Bickerton
Series: Palgrave studies in European Union politics
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Basingstoke
Language: eng
Number of pages: 173
ISBN-13: 9780230282292
Subjects: Politics and government; European Union; Foreign relations
Description: The study of EU foreign policy has for a long time been haunted by Henry Kissinger's famous quip, "what number do I call if I want to get through to Europe?" This has prompted scholars to inquire into the effectiveness of the EU as an international actor. Arguing that the focus on effectiveness has pushed EU studies too far into the world of policy planning, this book examines EU foreign policy from the perspective of functionality. It asks what function foreign policy co-operation plays in the wider European integration process. The findings are original and striking: EU foreign policy serves as a way of managing Europe's retreat from power politics, is the site for inter-institutional struggles between the Council, Commission and Parliament within the EU, and increasingly provides the EU with a new identity at a time when the traditional narratives of European integration are no longer so convincing for European citizens. Far from being the poor cousin of other policy areas, foreign policy is increasingly the terrain upon which the future of the EU is being decided.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-169) and index.
Table of contents: title: Functionality in European Union foreign policy: a framework for analysis; title: Managing ambivalence: national foreign policy in an age of 'power avoidance'; title: The politics of performance: 'turf wars' in common security and defence policy; title: Normative power and the EU's search for meaning; title: Saving the Union? EU foreign policy and the democratic deficit.