The European Union’s role in the international sphere, as well as the aim to improve its external actions, have been considered to be the two most important features of the Lisbon Treaty. Within the Lisbon Treaty, the combination of the provisions on mutual assistance and solidarity created new pressures on member states to assist one another in cases of armed attacks, disasters being it natural or man-made and crisis on EU territory.
The Lisbon Treaty brought about many changes within the structure of the European Union. One particular change was that the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) was to be replaced by the Common and Security Defence Policy (CSDP). The Lisbon Treaty emphasized the importance of such a change because the new Common and Security Defence Policy still formed part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The Lisbon Treaty also introduced new provisions aimed at developing the Common foreign and Defence Policy. The main focus was on the formation of a common European Defence. This would involve member states to participate in military and/or humanitarian missions and are, therefore, bound by common matters of European Defence. For this reason, the Mutual Assistance and Solidarity Clause were involved in the Treaty.
The Lisbon Treaty widened the missions carried out under the Common Security and Defence Policy. The CSDP offers cooperational framework by which EU member states can carry out missions in third countries. The aim of these missions must include; peacekeeping and strengthening international security. Prior to the Lisbon Treaty, the tasks, which the CSDP had to fulfill, included;
• Humanitatian and rescue interventions
• Prevention of war and peace-keeping missions
• T...
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...is to have all EU instruments, efficiently at the Union’s disposal. The final obligation we find under Article 222 is that the Member State is responsible to carry out its duty and assist another Member State in need of aid.
CONCLUSION
Although the awareness of the Mutual Assistance and Solidarity Clauses has increased, the question still remains of where the direction of the European defence is going. The Causes clearly lack direction at this stage of development. European and national policymakers have to harmonize their commitments in case such clauses where to be used in the near future; although it is unlikely that such emergencies or crises would be triggered. Nonetheless, it is clear that if Article 42(7) TEU and Article 222 TFEU are to combine their commitments and obligations; the European defence would definitely strife in power and ability.
The author doesn’t forget to mention the relationship between USA and NATO. He thinks that Americans welcome NATO as a weapon for America’s affairs, not of the world’s. In his final words, it is suggested that either Europe should invite USA to leave NATO or Europe should expel America from it.
Both the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) and the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) are strategies developed by the European Union in regards to their dealings with the ‘outside’ world. The European Neighborhood Policy finds its obstacles in the once superpower of the Russians, and their conflicting neighborhood policy. Whereas the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy finds its obstacles through its numerous memberships which on the outside one would consider a boon of combined knowledge, but when their insurmountable differences become involved it is a burden. The European Union unfortunately has become known for being a hypocritical organization, playing the mantra ‘do as I say not as I do’. Moreover, the European Union takes its power for granted and assumes “itself as a superior embodiment of soft power and a model of peace, democracy and prosperity in the region.” After the Cold War, the EU set out to develop a new phase of expansion and integration. One of the topics related to the process of European Union integration is the concern of a European Identity, and what it means to be ‘European’. The EU has struggled to define itself as a “Multicultural community sharing a set of universal values” , conversely defining what it means by ‘multiculturalism’ has become the center of political conflict within its governments. The conundrum may be if the European Union wants to keep the European feeling, then why should it bring in a country that is not European? But then again what is European? The debate over this term is one that surrounds the history of Europe and the possible futures available for the European Union. Is the EU or any nations allowed within it defined by the geographic constructs shown on th...
This is a provision of the EU treaties, which regulates states and does not confer rights upon individuals. As such, it cannot be invoked in a complaint such as the one at hand, regarding the activation of article 50.
International organizations such as NATO and the UN are essential not only for global peace, but also as a place where middle powers can exert their influence. It is understandable that since the inception of such organizations that many crises have been averted, resolved, or dealt with in some way thro...
Over the years the endurance of NATO has led to closer ties among its members and to a growing community of interests. The treaty itself has provided a model for other collective security agreements. NATO activities are no longer small only to Europe. In
Tiilikainen, T. 2011. The empowered European Parliament: Accommodation to the new functions provided by the Lisbon Treaty. The Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is one of the world’s leading major international organizations. It is both a political and military Alliance of 28 member countries from Europe and North America. The Alliance takes all its decisions by consensus – every member country, regardless of size, has an even say in deliberations and decisions. Each member state is to be dedicated to individual liberty, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. These ideals are at the heart of NATO’s transatlantic bond. Because it is a collective defense with all of NATO’s territories and populations, as set out in the Washington Treaty, an attack on one would be considered to be an attack on all. I propose that the United States remains apart of NATO because of our credibility as a nation to help our allies when they are in need.
One of the main aspects in the changing attitudes of powerful actors after the Second World War was the devastation and loss provoked by the conflict. Nationalism and the emergence of fascism were good examples of complications caused by an absence of cooperation amongst European states and many debated the option of a new European system of close cooperation (Judt, 2005, p.6). The several plans introduced contributed to the construction of what is now called the European Union.
The cessation of the Cold War has changed the nature of global politics. Although the termagant era of containment has concluded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) continues to ensure an international defense cooperative essential to the national security interests of the United States. NATO also serves as means to preserve stability and propagate democratic values in the transatlantic arena. Article X of the North Atlantic Treaty states the any European nation that advances the provisions of the treaty and provides cooperative security can join NATO with the approval of existing member states. In recent years NATO has enlisted numerous nations that were formerly under the dominion of the Warsaw Pact.
The European Union economic and political union is divided between twenty-eight European countries that united to preserve the economy, of the union. This form of economic preservation allowed “an organization spanning policy areas, from climate, environment, and health to external relations and security, justice and migration” (EU 2018). First, to build the European Union every country within the union avoided conflict by trading goods with one another. The act of courtesy in trade amongst the countries promoted peace and economic growth between the European countries (EU 2018).
After WWII, many politically influential people saw a need to create some form of interdependence between the nation states of Europe as a means to preventing further war (Watts, 2008: p6). In 1951 Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg all signed the Treaty of Paris creating the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC); the beginnings of an integrated Europe which has seen many changes since its creation (Thody, 1997: p1). Today it has become the highly integrated European Union with 28 member states, 18 of which share a single currency (Archick, 2014: p1). The process of EU integration is a complex one, as can be seen in its history and will surely be seen in its future. There is no simple explanation that can successfully explain the growth of the EU from a economic community of six nation states to the political and economic union it has become today. However there are two competing theories for explaining EU integration that give opposing views on the matter, neo-functionalism and intergovernmentalism. In this essay I will examine both theories and attempt to reach a conclusion if either successfully explains EU integration.
“From time to time it is worth reminding ourselves why twenty-seven European nation states have come together voluntarily to form the partnership that is the European Union.” 1
The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004 and 2007 has been termed as the largest single expansion of the EU with a total of 12 new member states – bringing the number of members to 27 – and more than 77 million citizens joining the Commission (Murphy 2006, Neueder 2003, Ross 2011). A majority of the new member states in this enlargement are from the eastern part of the continent and were countries that had just emerged from communist economies (EC 2009, Ross 2011), although overall, the enlargement also saw new member states from very different economic, social and political compared to that of the old member states (EC 2009, Ross 2011). This enlargement was also a historical significance in European history, for it saw the reunification of Europe since the Cold War in a world of increasing globalization (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). For that, overall, this enlargement is considered by many to have been a great success for the EU and its citizens but it is not without its problems and challenges (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). This essay will thus examine the impact of the 2004/2007 enlargements from two perspectives: firstly, the impact of the enlargements on the EU as a whole, and thereafter, how the enlargements have affected the new member states that were acceded during the 2004/2007 periods. Included in the essay will be the extent of their integration into the EU and how being a part of the Commission has contributed to their development as nation states. Following that, this essay will then evaluate the overall success of the enlargement process and whether the EU or the new member states have both benefited from the accessions or whether the enlargement has only proven advantageous to one th...
International organizations are instruments of international action and have the competences, systems, and numbers that lend legitimacy for them to take up action. The development of the European security and defense policy (ESDP) as an advancement for the European Union (EU), evolved into the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), and acts as an agent for a common European defense structures and cooperation between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the EU. The common defense policy was put into action through the signing of the ‘Berlin Plus Agreement’ in 2003. This protocol allows the EU to use NATO structures and assets to carry out military operations, if NATO is not partaking. An EU planning cell in now in full operation at SHAPE, NATO’s military epicenter.1 Ideas harbored and contrived from cold war rhetoric argue that cooperation between NATO and the EU will not last. Some players with in the organizations even have the attitude that the two organizations should not work together. However, in a world where military means alone will not resolve conflict and maintain peace, EU civilian capabilities working in tandem with NATO military expertise is the answer to managing crisis and perpetuating liberal democracy and content stability. Investigating this postulation will require an answer to three key questions: can these two organizations work together towards a common security defense policy? Are the goals, values and structures of each organization too fundamentally different for cooperation? Will the CSDP undermine the capabilities of either organization? The purpose of asking these questions is to undermine the assumptions that NATO and the EU cannot work together and to break down the base pillars for ...
Curtis, B., & Linser, W. (2004). NATO and EU Enlargement: Challenges for the New Europe . University of Washington. Retrieved December 10, 2013, from: http://jsis.washington.edu/cwes/file/nato_and_eu_curriculum.pdf