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Abstract:
In Europe, the discussion on the reform of the UN has run parallel to the institutionalization of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Since the Treaty of Maastricht, the CFSP began raising expectations about the possible role of the European Union (EU) in the UN, ranging from a common representation to a more effective coordination of the EU Member States on the Security Council. The purpose of this essay is to explore the link between the reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the development of the CFSP of the EU. To what extent and how does the UN institutional structure have an impact on European integration in the fi eld of foreign and security policy? To answer this question, the essay follows the evolution of European representation and coordination on the Security Council until the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, by using insights from realism, historical, and sociological institutionalism. Finally, it looks at how future reforms of the UNSC would affect the CFSP. The essay argues that the UN reform debate has infl uenced the development of EU foreign policy at the UN. Opposing strategies as well as institutional and sociological logics all resulted in an ambiguous process of incremental institutionalization of internal coordination. A reform of the UNSC would open new institutional opportunities and paths for European integration in foreign policy, either strengthening the current trend towards a directoire or encouraging new patterns of information sharing, coordination, and representation.
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