External Action of the European Union

Sieglinde Gstöhl is Director of the Department of EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies at the College of Europe in Bruges, where she has been Professor since 2005. Previous appointments include Humboldt University Berlin and the Liechtenstein Institute. Her research interests include EU external action, especially EU trade policy, neighbourhood relations and external representation. Among her recent books are The Proliferation of Privileged Partnerships between the European Union and its Neighbours (ed. with D. Phinnemore, 2019); The Trade Policy of the European Union (with D. De Bièvre, 2018); and Theorizing the European Neighbourhood Policy (ed. with S. Schunz, 2017).Simon Schunz is Professor in the Department of EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies at the College of Europe, Associate Research Fellow at UNU-CRIS in Bruges and visiting lecturer at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). His research interests include EU external action with a focus on foreign policy implementation and effects, especially concerning EU external environmental, cultural and science policies, and the EU’s relations with major powers. His recent publications include The Evolving Relationship between China, the EU and the USA: A New Global Order? (ed. with J. Men and D. Freeman, 2020) and The European Union’s Evolving External Engagement: Towards New Sectoral Diplomacies? (ed. with C. Damro and S. Gstöhl, 2018).

• Introduction1. The history of European Union external action and its study; Sieglinde Gstöhl and Simon SchunzPart I – Conceptualizing the EU as a global actor2. Actorness and the study of the EU’s external action; Edith Drieskens3. Role theory and the study of leadership in EU external action; Lisbeth Aggestam4. The European Union as ‘Market Power Europe’; Chad Damro5. Normative Power Approach to European Union external action; Ian MannersPart II – Analysing processes and impact of EU external action6. Conceptualizing coherence in EU external action; Clara Portela7. The EU in international negotiations: three-level game and principal-agent approaches; Sieglinde Gstöhl8. EU external governance and Europeanization; Frank Schimmelfennig9. Analysing the effectiveness of European Union external action; Simon SchunzPart III – Explaining EU external action with IR and integration theories10. EU external action from a realist perspective; Adrian Hyde-Price11.Theorizing EU external action: a neo-functionalist perspective; Arne Niemann and Julian Bergmann. 12. A liberal intergovernmentalist approach to EU external action; Andrew Moravcsik and Cassandra Emmons13. Constructivism and the role of the ‘Other’ in EU external action; Bahar RumeliliPart IV – Turns in the social sciences and their repercussions for the study of EU external action14. Discourse analytical approaches and the study of EU external action; Caterina Carta15. Analysing EU external action through the lens of global justice theory; Helene Sjursen and Joachim Vigrestad16. The ‘practice turn’ in EU external action studies; Federica Bicchi17. Gendering EU external action: feminist insights; Roberta GuerrinaPart V – Decentring EU external action: overcoming EU-centrism with outside perspectives18. Theorizing external perceptions of the EU; Natalia Chaban and Ole Elgström19. The decentring agenda: a post-colonial approach to EU external action; Nora Fisher-Onar and Kalypso Nicolaïdis20. Decentring European Foreign Policy Analysis; Stephan Keukeleire and Sharon LecocqConclusion: European Union External Action Studies – the way forward; Sieglinde Gstöhl and Simon Schunz.

From a narrative of peace on the continent after two world wars to one of the prosperity generated by the single market, the rationale for the European Union today is an exquisitely global one. From trade, energy and climate, to security, defence and the digital domain, Europe strives for autonomy in a world which is ever more complex, connected and contested. Providing indispensable theoretical and empirical lenses to make sense of this journey, this edited volume by Sieglinde Gstöhl and Simon Schunz is a must-read for all students and practitioners of European foreign policy.