Looking afresh at the external representation of the EU in the international arena

What would the EU need to do to its external representation to be effectively equipped as a global international actor in the emerging multi-polar world? In general, an extensive ‘upgrade’ of the EU’s external representation is required, since the EU often languishes in the observer ranks even where its competences may be substantial. This is a highly complex field, however – politically, legally and institutionally – and any attempt to formulate operational recommendations will have to be finely tuned to many different specific situations.

This Policy Brief by CEPS Research Fellows Michael Emerson and Piotr Kaczyński serves both as an overview of the complexities of EU and member state external representation and as an invitation to further debate on the issue. It forms part of a project being undertaken by a working group consisting of CEPS, EPC, the Egmont Centre and the Leuven University Centre for Global Governance Studies.