Towards a Common Foreign and Security Policy

While it is tempting to ask how far the EU Member States have reached in their efforts to forge a common foreign and security policy, this question always eludes an answer. We simply lack suitable ways of measuring “how far” integration has proceeded in this area. In the field of foreign and security policy, namely, the Member States have created a unique and historically unprecedented system, within which each Member State continues to pursue its own national foreign policy alongside the common foreign policy of the Union. The only concrete method of measurement available, therefore, is to compare the EU’s foreign policy with itself – over time. Such a comparison can at least reveal if there have been any marked changes over the years. Whether the resulting picture is of a glass which is half full or half empty remains for each to judge. One quick comparison of this kind – between a situation some 30 years ago and a somewhat similar one more recently – may serve as a starting point. At that time, towards the end of 1979, Soviet troops had marched into Afghanistan. In the eyes of the European states, this invasion signalled that the Soviet Union was still prepared to use coercive military means to reach its political goals in foreign countries. All of a sudden, détente seemed further away than ever. Despite these worrying signs, and despite 10 years of foreign policy cooperation between the EC Member States, no rapid common reaction was forthcoming from the nine members. The Irish (and later Italian) Presidency did not even call for an extraordinary meeting of the foreign ministers. It seems the ministers doubted the prospects for any common measures, and were furthermore reluctant to abandon their Christmas leave. Consequently, it took three weeks before a common statement – condemning the Soviet invasion – emerged from the Nine.