European Foreign Policy
Lecture 1
European foreign policy?
- interest and ideas differ between countries
- different future views and past
- different sectors - single market, culture, social, technology
- Even outside of institution there is European community of culture and security
Success or failure?
Which criteria do we use?
How do we evaluate EFP?
What is ‘foreign policy’?
European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)
Europe’s ring of fire:
the arc of instability around the
European Union, stretching from the
Eastern neighborhood (Ukraine,
Belarus, the Caucasus), through the
Middle East (Syria, Iraq), down to
North Africa (Libya, Sahel). These
regions face conflict,
authoritarianism, terrorism, migration
pressures, and economic fragility.
The discrepancies come from how
the EU engages with these
neighbors:
Geographic variation: instability
differs between East (geopolitical
competition with Russia) and South
(migration, terrorism, state collapse).
Policy inconsistency: EU applies different tools – enlargement and association in the East vs.
neighborhood and security/migration management in the South.
Member state divides: Southern states (Italy, Spain, Greece) push for focus on the
Mediterranean, while Eastern members (Poland, Baltic states) emphasize Russia and Ukraine.
Values vs. interests: EU rhetoric stresses democracy and human rights, but practice often
prioritizes stability, migration control, and security.
So the European Ring of Fire highlights the EU’s security challenges at its periphery, and the
contradictions in how it addresses them.
,Emerging forms of multilateralism & emerging power networks
Decentring European Foreign Policy
Decentring dimensions
- geographic decentring
looking at material features
- historical/temporal decentring
questioning Western time frames
- normative decentring
looking beyond Western normative concepts
- polity decentring
looking beyond Westphalia and modernity
- linguistic decentering
going beyond Western publication and discourse
- methodological & disciplinary decentring
post-positivism & interdisciplinarity
,Course objectives
-Students have a good knowledge and understanding of the origin, nature and substance
of European foreign policy and of the main actors and policy-making processes involved.
- Students know various relevant analytical frameworks (incl. ‘relational/structural FP’ and
‘decentering approach’), can apply these to specific cases, and can critically evaluate
them.
→ What are the weaknesses of the book, or what can be improved (possible exam Q)
- Student can reflect critically on the academic and non-academic analysis as well as on
their own thinking about (European) foreign policy
● Online learning module
○ mandatory readings
○ learning objectives
○ powerpoint presentation
○ tasks and questions related to your ‘dossier’
● handbook
○ extra introductory text on the EU
● youtube
○ Exploring EU foreign policy
● Preliminary knowledge/reading
○ students should have basic knowledge of the institutions, decision-making and
politics of the EU
→ important for the exams
● www.eufp.eu
TASK: Your individual Dossier (ppt) - SUPER IMPORTANT FOR YOUR EXAM YOU NEED THE
DOSSIER ON YOUR EXAM -> START ON TIME
- goal: gain more detailed knowledge and apply theoretical knowledge to real-life cases
- gain information & insight on the EU’s relations with and foreign policy towards two
countries
- 1. one country from the Western Balkans/ Turkey or the EU’s Eastern or
Southern Neighbourhood
- 2. another country on another of the world
- Include by late October the name of the two countries in the form will be provided on
Toledo
- Each module will specify what information you need to add in your dossier about ‘your’
two countries:
treaties or agreements, relevant actors, procedures, instruments, budgets, actions,
meetings etc.
- You don’t have to submit your dossier. You decide how you store your information
- Your dossier is important for your exam so start on time!!
Exam will be written, closed-book exam, including mainly open questions
Exam: students should be able to integrate knowledge and insight from different parts of the
course
Q: the correlation between those guest speakers?
, Lecture 2 The history, nature and objectives of EU foreign policy
Historical overview & areas of tension
Time line
→ European integration is foreign policy; after the attempt of the USA (Marshall plan) and the
French to incorporate Germany to avoid future wars between both states. These wars indicated
old attempts to security failed, showing that sanctioning and punishing old enemies does not
work, so they switched strategies and worked towards incorporating Germany. But also as a
way to overcome the crisis.
European integration started because they needed more trust in the continent.
→ Foreign policy as taboo in European integration (paradox) The treaties did not provide
competences to the European organization, especially in security and foreign policy. It was a
very economy-focused organizations. Starting with the European Coal and Steel Community.
→ NATO, all European countries wanted NATO to provide (military) security
→ Common Commercial Policy + European Political Cooperation -> decolonisation process
common market made for the CCP
EPC: first attempt to try to cooperate to some extent on foreign policy in some fields (e.g.
the (Middle) East)
decolonisation process: Member States started losing their colonies, these institutions
tried to rebalance the powers and re-strengthen the members → Eur-Africe meaning that the
colonised countries were part of the communities. Time of the shift in powers
→ Maastricht Treaty: CFSP
reunification of Germany was a turning point, this treaty made for restabilizing the
members and including Germany as well.
→ CSDP: it was more a configuration of cooperation, they did not want to transfer their
competences to the European Union, it did not provide the similar treaty basis, it remained
purely intergovernmental. → creating expectations but nothing happened
→ Enlargement and start European Neighbourhood Policy
→ Crisis and geopolitical shift: Migration crisis, covid, rise of populism
→ Russian invasion in Ukraine
→ Trump
→ NATO
Lecture 1
European foreign policy?
- interest and ideas differ between countries
- different future views and past
- different sectors - single market, culture, social, technology
- Even outside of institution there is European community of culture and security
Success or failure?
Which criteria do we use?
How do we evaluate EFP?
What is ‘foreign policy’?
European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)
Europe’s ring of fire:
the arc of instability around the
European Union, stretching from the
Eastern neighborhood (Ukraine,
Belarus, the Caucasus), through the
Middle East (Syria, Iraq), down to
North Africa (Libya, Sahel). These
regions face conflict,
authoritarianism, terrorism, migration
pressures, and economic fragility.
The discrepancies come from how
the EU engages with these
neighbors:
Geographic variation: instability
differs between East (geopolitical
competition with Russia) and South
(migration, terrorism, state collapse).
Policy inconsistency: EU applies different tools – enlargement and association in the East vs.
neighborhood and security/migration management in the South.
Member state divides: Southern states (Italy, Spain, Greece) push for focus on the
Mediterranean, while Eastern members (Poland, Baltic states) emphasize Russia and Ukraine.
Values vs. interests: EU rhetoric stresses democracy and human rights, but practice often
prioritizes stability, migration control, and security.
So the European Ring of Fire highlights the EU’s security challenges at its periphery, and the
contradictions in how it addresses them.
,Emerging forms of multilateralism & emerging power networks
Decentring European Foreign Policy
Decentring dimensions
- geographic decentring
looking at material features
- historical/temporal decentring
questioning Western time frames
- normative decentring
looking beyond Western normative concepts
- polity decentring
looking beyond Westphalia and modernity
- linguistic decentering
going beyond Western publication and discourse
- methodological & disciplinary decentring
post-positivism & interdisciplinarity
,Course objectives
-Students have a good knowledge and understanding of the origin, nature and substance
of European foreign policy and of the main actors and policy-making processes involved.
- Students know various relevant analytical frameworks (incl. ‘relational/structural FP’ and
‘decentering approach’), can apply these to specific cases, and can critically evaluate
them.
→ What are the weaknesses of the book, or what can be improved (possible exam Q)
- Student can reflect critically on the academic and non-academic analysis as well as on
their own thinking about (European) foreign policy
● Online learning module
○ mandatory readings
○ learning objectives
○ powerpoint presentation
○ tasks and questions related to your ‘dossier’
● handbook
○ extra introductory text on the EU
● youtube
○ Exploring EU foreign policy
● Preliminary knowledge/reading
○ students should have basic knowledge of the institutions, decision-making and
politics of the EU
→ important for the exams
● www.eufp.eu
TASK: Your individual Dossier (ppt) - SUPER IMPORTANT FOR YOUR EXAM YOU NEED THE
DOSSIER ON YOUR EXAM -> START ON TIME
- goal: gain more detailed knowledge and apply theoretical knowledge to real-life cases
- gain information & insight on the EU’s relations with and foreign policy towards two
countries
- 1. one country from the Western Balkans/ Turkey or the EU’s Eastern or
Southern Neighbourhood
- 2. another country on another of the world
- Include by late October the name of the two countries in the form will be provided on
Toledo
- Each module will specify what information you need to add in your dossier about ‘your’
two countries:
treaties or agreements, relevant actors, procedures, instruments, budgets, actions,
meetings etc.
- You don’t have to submit your dossier. You decide how you store your information
- Your dossier is important for your exam so start on time!!
Exam will be written, closed-book exam, including mainly open questions
Exam: students should be able to integrate knowledge and insight from different parts of the
course
Q: the correlation between those guest speakers?
, Lecture 2 The history, nature and objectives of EU foreign policy
Historical overview & areas of tension
Time line
→ European integration is foreign policy; after the attempt of the USA (Marshall plan) and the
French to incorporate Germany to avoid future wars between both states. These wars indicated
old attempts to security failed, showing that sanctioning and punishing old enemies does not
work, so they switched strategies and worked towards incorporating Germany. But also as a
way to overcome the crisis.
European integration started because they needed more trust in the continent.
→ Foreign policy as taboo in European integration (paradox) The treaties did not provide
competences to the European organization, especially in security and foreign policy. It was a
very economy-focused organizations. Starting with the European Coal and Steel Community.
→ NATO, all European countries wanted NATO to provide (military) security
→ Common Commercial Policy + European Political Cooperation -> decolonisation process
common market made for the CCP
EPC: first attempt to try to cooperate to some extent on foreign policy in some fields (e.g.
the (Middle) East)
decolonisation process: Member States started losing their colonies, these institutions
tried to rebalance the powers and re-strengthen the members → Eur-Africe meaning that the
colonised countries were part of the communities. Time of the shift in powers
→ Maastricht Treaty: CFSP
reunification of Germany was a turning point, this treaty made for restabilizing the
members and including Germany as well.
→ CSDP: it was more a configuration of cooperation, they did not want to transfer their
competences to the European Union, it did not provide the similar treaty basis, it remained
purely intergovernmental. → creating expectations but nothing happened
→ Enlargement and start European Neighbourhood Policy
→ Crisis and geopolitical shift: Migration crisis, covid, rise of populism
→ Russian invasion in Ukraine
→ Trump
→ NATO
