Common Foreign And Security Policy [What Think Tanks Are Thinking]

The EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) has developed significantly since the 1990s with the aim of enabling the EuropeanUnion to speak and act as one in world affairs. The 2009 Lisbon Treaty strengthened the potential of the policy by creating the post of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, backed by the European External Action Service (EEAS).

Although the EU’s foreign policy has been hailed for a number of successes, such as a deal between Serbia and Kosovo or a nuclear agreement with Iran, it is still often perceived as underdeveloped by analysts, who say that Member States pursue their own priorities and that there needs to be greater coordination between the CFSP and other EU external policies, such as on development and trade.

Written by Marcin Grajewski.

• Primary Source

ESO: Key Source: European Union Global Strategy http://www.europeansources.info/record/european-union-global-strategy/

ESO: Background information: European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2016 http://www.europeansources.info/record/european-foreign-policy-scorecard-2016/

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