Europeanization and the Common Foreign and Security Policy

Abstract

As discussed earlier in this volume, Europeanization was originally preoccupied with studies of what, prior to the Lisbon Treaty, were termed first pillar policies and for a considerable time was not employed in research on European foreign policy. Given the highly sensitive nature of this area for member states, it is unsurprising that foreign policy was the “last suspect” when searching for the impact of the EU. The constant paradox of European foreign policy has been the coexisting desire of the member states that the EU become a more meaningful actor in international relations; and their deep reluctance to pool competences in foreign and security policies. Despite this, since the very beginnings of cooperation in these fields through European Political Co-operation (EPC) in the 1970s, we have been able to observe a gradual but nonetheless considerable transformation in the manner, structures, and processes in and through which the national foreign policies of the member states are conducted, and in their actual content.