Tag: external relations

Europe's new External Action Service (EEAS) could serve as a first port-of-call for small businesses looking to gain a foothold in foreign markets, according to Europe's main business lobby group.

EU foreign ministers earlier this week outlined their vision for the new European External Action Service (EEAS), the diplomatic corps to be created by the Lisbon Treaty. However, many questions remain, notably concerning the body's recruitment procedures.

The accelerated rise of the Chinese economy and the deepening of its relationship with the EU are likely to facilitate a change of forces in the international system and help promote the multipolarisation of international relations, argued panelists at a 2006 IFRI conference entitled "The EU, China and the quest for a multilateral world."

Serbia has to adapt to the EU and not the other way round if it wants to become a member, argues David Gowan in a June 2007 paper for the Centre for European Reform (CER).

The Portuguese presidency will mainly focus on the political agenda and attempting to resolve the institutional impasse, as well as the external agenda, promoting competitiveness, security and improving relations with third countries.

Driven by increasing energy profits, Kazakhstan is looking to secure energy transit, encourage foreign investment, and boost Kazakh influence over regional geopolitical developments, writes Joanne Lillis (EurasiaNet) in this Transitions Online Analysis.

In a policy-oriented analysis, Dr Simon Duke (EIPA, Maastricht) looks at conflicts of competences and “grey areas” between the Community and the more ‘intergovernmental pillars’ on which the Union establishes its external relations - and how to remedy them.

Europeans are critical of US President George Bush's Middle East policy, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center, conducted in Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

Nearly 50 countries and international organisations pledged a total of 307 million euro to support the peace process and economic development in Macedonia.

The outgoing co-ordinator of the EU-backed Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, Bodo Hombach, has accused the European Commission of thwarting efforts to help the war-damaged Balkan region.

EU foreign ministers have appointed an Austrian diplomat, Erhard Busek, to replace the German diplomat, Bodo Hombach, as co-ordinator of the Brussels-based Balkan Stability Pact. Mr Busek is a former Austrian Vice-Chancellor and government adviser for enlargement.

The EU foreign ministers have started a discussion on the future of its Stability Pact for the Balkans that was set up in 1999 in order to stabilise the war-torn region.

The European Union has decided to postpone an international donors' conference for Macedonia, saying the Macedonian government has not granted ethnic Albanians enough rights. The conference, scheduled for 15 October, will not go ahead until the country's government implements reforms agreed under a peace agreement with ethnic Albanian guerrillas.

EU leaders have criticised Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for implying that the world is heading for a clash between Western and Islamic civilisations. While undermining the EU's strategy to obtain the support of Islamic countries in a fight against international terrorism, Mr Berlusconi was also branded as racist by Islamic countries.

The EU wants to persuade Muslim countries that their support for the international counter-terrorism coalition is key in order to disperse fears of a clash between Western and Islamic civilisations. The EU hopes that its diplomatic mission to the Middle East will also contribute to improving relations between Europe and Muslim countries.

According to exit polls, the opposition Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) has secured a majority of 41.5 per cent in Poland's general elections on Sunday, which is not enough to form a single-party government. The leftist alliance has pushed the ruling Christian-Democratic Solidarity block out of parliament.

NATO Secretary General George Robertson indicated on 20 September that the Alliance was prepared to extend its mission in Macedonia to protect international observers. NATO received a formal request from Macedonia's president Boris Trajkovski for "bodyguard" forces.