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A world player - The European Union's external relations   
External relations: a global commitment
Common foreign and security policy
The idea that a strong Europe should act as one on the world stage has encouraged member countries to work together to achieve a coherent approach to foreign policy. Progress over the years has been slow, but steady.
The first step was an ambitious but unsuccessful attempt in the early 1950s to create a European Defence Community among the six founding members of the European Union. Then came a process called 'European political cooperation', launched in 1970, which sought to coordinate the positions of member states on foreign policy issues of the day. EU countries produced joint statements whenever they could. But on particularly sensitive issues, it was not always possible to reach the required unanimous decision.
In the last 15 years, the Union has intensified efforts to play an international political and security role more in line with its economic status. The conflicts that erupted in Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 convinced EU leaders of the need for effective joint action. More recently, the fight against international terrorism has strengthened this conviction.
The lessons of the Balkans
The principle of a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was formalised in 1992 in the Treaty of Maastricht. Only a few months later, war broke out in former Yugoslavia. The European Union tried unsuccessfully to broker a political solution to the crisis. As the EU had no military force of its own, its member countries could only intervene as part of UN and Nato forces which were later sent to the region.
The lessons of this experience were not lost. In the light of the Balkan wars, and of conflicts in Africa in the 1990s, the EU has created a European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) within the overall framework of the CFSP.
Under the ESDP, military or police forces can be sent to areas of crisis to carry out humanitarian operations, peacekeeping, crisis management and even peacemaking. Military action is carried out by an EU rapid reaction force, separate from Nato but with access to Nato resources.
The first missions carried out under the ESDP were in former Yugoslavia, the scene of earlier EU frustrations. An EU police mission replaced a taskforce of UN police officers in Bosnia and Herzegovina in January 2003, while an EU military force took over from Nato in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia three months later.
Action against landmines
To-date, the total EU support to the fight against landmines for the period 1997-2004 has exceeded the figure of 1 billion euro. This represents more than half of the world-wide financial assistance to mine action in that period.
This financial effort has consistently been complemented by the political commitment to the universalisation of the Mine Ban Treaty. The European Community offers assistance under a policy of conditionality: it encourages ratification and supports States in the implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Link: http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/mine/intro/index.htm
Prevention is better than cure
Violent conflicts take an unacceptable toll in terms of human suffering, destruction and wasted resources. During the 1990s, seven violent conflicts around the globe cost the international community €200 billion that could otherwise have been used for peaceful purposes. This is why the European Union is determined to act more effectively to prevent conflicts from happening in the first place.
The EU already uses a wide range of traditional tools, including technical and financial assistance to developing countries, economic cooperation and trade relations, humanitarian aid, social and environmental policies as well as diplomatic instruments like political dialogue and mediation. But it also employs new tools provided by the ESDP such as gathering information and monitoring international agreements to anticipate potential conflicts.
In a world where power no longer necessarily means security, the EU must be able to respond swiftly to specific situations as they arise - and with the right mix of instruments.
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