The making of the EU Global Strategy

ABSTRACT

This article traces the evolution of the EU strategic reflection which culminated in the publication of the EU Global Strategy (EUGS) in June 2016. It explains the choices made by EU High Representative Federica Mogherini over this time period—including both the initial strategic assessment and the final EUGS. It provides a behind the scenes view on the players, the organization and the methods of work used to produce a strategic vision for the EU’s role in the world.

KEYWORDS:

• European Union
• EU Global Strategy
• security
• Foreign Policy
• member states

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank the Editor and the anonymous reviewers of Contemporary Security Policy for their comments and queries.

Disclosure statement

The author is a Special Advisor to Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission. In this position, she coordinated the work on and drafted the EU Global Strategy. This article reflects her personal views on the making of the EU Global Strategy.

Notes on contributor

Nathalie Tocci is Deputy Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, Honorary Professor at the University of Tubingen and Special Advisor to Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission. On behalf of the EU HRVP she drafted the EU Global Strategy and is part of the steering committee on its implementation. Previously she held research positions at the Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, the Transatlantic Academy, Washington, DC and the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, Florence. Her major publications include Turkey and the European Union, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015; Multilateralism in the 21st Century, Routledge, 2013; Turkey’s European Future: Behind the Scenes of America’s Influence on EU-Turkey Relations, New York University Press, 2011; The EU and Conflict Resolution, Routledge, 2007 and EU Accession Dynamics and Conflict Resolution, Ashgate, 2004. Nathalie Tocci is the 2008 winner of the Anna Lindh award for the study of European Foreign Policy.

Notes

1. EU HR/VP, The European Union in a Changing Global Environment a More Connected, Contested and Complex World, https://eeas.europa.eu/docs/strategic_review/eu-strategic-review_strategic_review_en.pdf (accessed June 2015).

2. EU HR/VP, Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe. A Global Strategy for the EU’s Foreign and Security Policy, June 2016, https://europa.eu/globalstrategy/sites/globalstrategy/files/eugs_review_web.pdf (accessed June 2016).

3. Hearing at the European Parliament, Federica Mogherini, 6 October 2014, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/hearings-2014/en/schedule/06-10-2014/federica-mogherini (accessed July 2016).

4. EU High Representative, A Secure Europe in a Better World. European Security Strategy, December 2003, http://www.iss.europa.eu/publications/detail/article/a-secure-europe-in-a-better-world-european-security-strategy/ (accessed July 2016).

5. Pew, Europeans Face the World Divided, June 2016, p. 5, file:///C:/Users/Tocci/Downloads/Pew-Research-Center-EPW-Report-FINAL-June-13-2016.pdf (accessed July 2016).

6. European Council, Presidency Conclusions, Brussels, 19–20 December 2013 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/140245.pdf (accessed July 2016).

7. On this theme see Jolyon Howorth, ‘EU Global Strategy in a Changing World: Brussels’ Approach to the Emerging Powers’, Contemporary Security Policy, Vol. 37, No. 3 (2016), this issue.

8. For reports of these meetings, and of the public outreach of the strategic reflection see http://europa.eu/globalstrategy/.

9. See www.europa.eu/globalstrategy.

10. Antonio Missiroli, Towards an EU Global Strategy: Consulting the Experts, April 2016, EUISS, http://www.iss.europa.eu/publications/detail/article/towards-an-eu-global-strategy-consulting-the-experts/ (accessed July 2016).

11. European Parliament, ‘On the EU in a Changing Global Environment—A More Connected, Contested and Complex World’, Motion for a Resolution, April 2016, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A8-2016-0069&language=EN (accessed July 2016).

12. Bruno Waterfield, ‘EU Army Plans Kept Secret from Voters’, The Times, 27 May, http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/eu-army-plans-kept-secret-from-voters-3j3kg3zwj (accessed May 2016).

13. Ibid.

14. Michael Smith, ‘Implementing the Global Strategy Where It Matters Most: The EU’s Credibility Deficit and the European Neighbourhood’, Contemporary Security Policy, Vol. 37, No. 3 (2016), this issue; Sven Biscop, ‘All or Nothing? The EU Global Strategy and Defence Policy after the Brexit’, Contemporary Security Policy, Vol. 37, No. 3 (2016), this issue.