The EU’s foreign policy and the search for effect

Abstract

The Lisbon Treaty sought to meet new global challenges by providing the European Union (EU) with stronger institutional capacity and policy instruments to make it a more effective international actor in foreign and security terms. The article sets out the structures and practices agreed and contested by both Member States – especially the United Kingdom and France – and the European Commission, focusing on the roles of the High Representative (HR) for Foreign Affairs and the European External Action Service. It points to the disjuncture between the formal calls for greater coherence and consequence in the EU’s foreign policies, the problems of creating an effective policy vehicle and the practices that undermine both its efforts and its legitimacy.