The Iraq crisis, the Union and EU studies

Date: 10/04/03

Recent events have left the European Union's common foreign policy in tatters. Now is the time to stimulate students to discuss the issues, writes Anand Menon

THE Iraq crisis has highlighted several problems confronting the European Union. The first, and most obvious, is that of what its role in the world should be.

Should the EU aspire to match the military muscle of the United States? Or should it, rather, accept its ultimate dependence on Washington in matters military?

Perhaps less obviously, recent events have thrown the potential implications of enlargement into sharp relief.

How real is the distinction between "Old Europe" and "New Europe"? How will the two be able to co-exist in the Union? And what will the presence of 25 votes - and 25 vetoes - mean for a European Council that is already deeply divided?

Europe is changing before our eyes. Recent events have underlined that the nature of these changes matter not only in terms of the internal dynamics of the Union, but also, and more importantly, for the impact they will have on the nature of international relations.

Commentators seem divided between those who conclude that the Union is essentially dead and buried as an international actor and others - such as Commission President Romano Prodi - who see the current debacle as the launch pad from which the EU can build an effective common foreign and security policy.

In a time of uncertainty about both the Union and the wider international system in which it operates, academic institutions must carry out research to inform policymakers and focus sufficient attention on the question of Europe's place in the world.

This presents a challenge for many institutions. Given the sheer complexity of the Union, and its low profile during major international crises, it is understandable that far more course time is devoted to the intricacies of the co-decision process than to the issue of EU external policies.

Yet academics must be sensitive to changes both in the "real world" and to the attitudes of policymakers and the public.

The fact that the Union has played no role during the current Gulf crisis does not mean that we should not consider - and talk with our students about - whether this situation should be addressed before other crises break out.

This is already beginning to happen. Some institutions have addressed this issue directly; the Université Libre de Bruxelles plans to offer a postgraduate course dealing specifically with the issue of the Union's place in the world.

Others are also attempting to meet the increasing demand for courses that address the question of the EU's external policies.

At the European Research Institute, for example, we offer a variety of optional modules to students who are interested in the subject.

While academia should not slavishly follow political fads, events since 11 September 2001 have shown that political systems are dependent for internal security and stability on their external environment.

The Union has a role to play in shaping that environment. It is incumbent upon us, therefore, to think about how it can do so most effectively.

• Professor Anand Menon is director of the European Research Institute and professor of European Politics at the University of Birmingham.

Recent events have left the European Union's common foreign policy in tatters. Now is the time to stimulate students to discuss the issues. Author is director of the European Research Institute and professor of European Politics at the University of Birmingham.