The EU and the UN: a shared future

Abstract:

Relations between the European Union and the United Nations have entered a new phase. Along with increasing practical cooperation their activities also carry a new kind of strategic weight. They are redefining their own positions in the international relations of the 21st century and in many ways share the same world view. Both of them also try to mask rough political reality through ostentatiously pompous rhetoric.

However, the gap between aims and achievements will by no means be bridged by placing the goals even higher. Reaching the goals may only be possible through the persistent ambition and mutual cooperation of both organisations. Therefore, it is increasingly important to discern how each organisation’s internal state, performance, development and objectives also directly reflect on the other.