The European Union

Paper Summary:

This paper takes the position that the more interesting and pressing question is not the way in which the European nations will benefit from membership in the E.U., but how the development of the E.U. will influence the foreign policy framework of the region. The author points out that the Barcelona Declaration and the Barcelona Process, which came out of it, marks a new phase in Europe's foreign policy in which the European Union is announcing that it cannot afford the continuation of conflict in the Middle East and that peace is the only option. The paper relates that the Barcelona Declaration is ambitious because it basically aims to reshape the Middle East in economic and political terms, democratizing its political systems, liberalizing its economies, and promoting stable peace; these aims require a great deal of time, effort, and economic support from the E.U.

Table of Contents
Barcelona Declaration
Goal of the Barcelona Declaration
Democratization Policy
Conflict Resolution
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"As stated in a paper prepared by the Research Group on European Affairs, a number of international factors determined the signing of the Barcelona Process in 1995. In the first place, changes in the international political atmosphere and increasing conflict, transitions and even destabilizations of countries in Eastern Europe, the Southern Mediterranean and North Africa, forced the Union to reconsider the nature of "its foreign policy making instruments". That is the EU had to re-define its foreign policy and the way that it planned and carried out this foreign policy so that it would be more in line with the changing international political atmosphere. In the second place, the continuation of instability and social, economic and political problems in the Middle East, which the United States took the lead in resolving and was failing to do so, was having a negative influence on the EU itself, on both the economic and political levels."

More papers on The European Union:

• Book Review # 145645 : "The European Union: Politics and Policies" - A Review"
• Research Paper # 84230 : "Multilevel Governance in the European Union"
• Essay # 71054 : " Turkey and the European Union"
• Essay # 69414 : "Turkey and the European Union"

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