Khaliq, Urfan --- "The External Action of the European Union under the Treaty of Lisbon" [2012] ELECD 523; in Trybus, Martin; Rubini, Luca (eds), "The Treaty of Lisbon and the Future of European Law and Policy" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: The Treaty of Lisbon and the Future of European Law and Policy

Editor(s): Trybus, Martin; Rubini, Luca

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9780857932556

Section: Chapter 13

Section Title: The External Action of the European Union under the Treaty of Lisbon

Author(s): Khaliq, Urfan

Number of pages: 23

Extract:

13. The external action of the European
Union under the Treaty of Lisbon
Urfan Khaliq

1. INTRODUCTION

The European Union's external action has long been perceived simultane-
ously as a source of strength and of weakness. In foreign policy terms the
potential of the collective action of these particular 27 Member States is a
powerful one. More often than not, however, the potential contrasts starkly
with the reality. The Union is routinely lamented for the paucity of its
foreign policy action; one need only look at the reaction to the Union's
`interventions' in the `Arab Spring' uprisings of early 2011 to get a flavour of
the venom from many quarters which is vented at the inadequacy of Union
foreign policy. It is argued in this chapter that the gap between the
`expectations' of the Union and its `capabilities' is no longer as great as it
once was, but that gap is still a sizeable one.1 This `gap' is examined in light
of the objectives set out in the Laeken Declaration2 and the changes
subsequently made by the Lisbon Treaty3 to the Union's structures and
institutions. The discussion, in particular, examines the role of the High
Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy (High Representative) and the President of the European Council,
and the establishment of the new European External Action Service
(EEAS).



1
I am here using the terminology of Hill, C. (1993), `The Capability­
Expectations Gap, or Conceptualizing Europe's International ...