The European Union in the International Arena

Abstract

The EU as an international actor is facing multiple internal and external challenges, ranging from more assertive actors to its South and East and the crisis of the liberal world order to the rise of nationalist domestic constituencies and Brexit at home. How does the EU adapt its external policies and policy-making practices in light of these issues? How does it position itself in a world caught up in transition, and how does that affect its internal and external representation as an international actor? Who, in fact, is in charge in EU foreign policy-making roughly a decade after the Lisbon Treaty came into effect? Acknowledging that there are no generalizable answers to these questions, this panel investigates the EU’s external relations and international role in a range of different policy fields, including trade and development, climate diplomacy and security.