The structure of the Common Foreign and Security Policy: External actions of the EU The Structure of Common Foreign and Security Policy The External action of EU CFSP and NATO

1. THE STRUCTURE OF THE
COMMON FOREIGN AND
SECURITY POLICY:
EXTERNAL ACTIONS OF
Prepared by
Jaafar Alshawi
Wroclaw University -
2022

2. THE TREATY OF LISBON (THE
CONSOLIDATION )
In an effort to ensure greater co-ordination and
consistency in EU foreign policy, the Treaty of Lisbon
created a High Representative of the Union for Foreign
Affairs and Security Policy.
In fact, merging the post of High Representative for
the Common Foreign and Security Policy and European
Commissioner for External Relations and European
Neighborhood Policy. Since December 2011 the High
Representative (HR) is in charge of the European
External Action Service (EEAS), which was also created
by the Treaty of Lisbon.
The Treaty of Lisbon took effect in December 2009

3. THE COMMON FOREIGN AND
SECURITY POLICY
The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is
the organized, agreed foreign policy of the
European Union (EU) for mainly security and
defence diplomacy and actions.
CFSP deals only with a specific part of the EU's
external relations, which domains include mainly
Trade and Commercial Policy
Decisions require unanimity among member states
in the Council of the European Union, but once
agreed, certain aspects can be further decided by
qualified majority voting.

4. THE STRUCTURE OF COMMON
FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY
The European Council defines the principles and general
guidelines for the CFSP as well as common strategies to be
implemented by the EU. Based on those guidelines the
Council of Ministers adopts joint actions or common
positions.
The High Representative, in conjunction with the President
of the European Council, speaks on behalf of the EU in
agreed foreign policy matters and can have the task of
articulating ambiguous policy positions created by
disagreements among member states. The Common
Foreign and Security Policy requires unanimity among the
27 member states on the appropriate policy to follow on

5. THE STRUCTURE OF COMMON
FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY
The High Representative also coordinates the work of the
European Union Special Representatives. With the Lisbon Treaty
taking effect, the position became distinct from the Secretary-
General of the Council of Ministers.
The High Representative serves as the head of the European
Defence Agency and exercises the same functions over the
Common Security and Defence Policy as the CFSP.
Besides its own foreign and security policy, the Commission is
also gaining greater representation in international bodies.
Representation in international bodies is previously through the
European Commissioner for External Relations, who worked
alongside the High Representative, but now with the High
Representative directly as a Commission Vice-President. Cont..,

6. THE EXTERNAL ACTION OF EU
In the UN the EU has gained influence in areas such as aid due to its
large contributions in that field.
In the G8 and the G20, the EU has the rights of membership
besides that of chairing/hosting summit meetings. The EU is
represented at the G8 by the presidents of the Commission and the
Council.
In the World Trade Organization (WTO), where all 27 member states
are represented, the EU as a body is represented by Trade
Commissioner.
Stopping humanitarian atrocities by military and economic
interventions by the EU are consistently more likely in countries where
violence explicitly targets civilians.

7. CFSP AND NATO
The CFSP sees the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) as responsible for the
territorial defence of Europe and reconciliation.
However, since 1999, the European Union is
responsible for implementing missions such as
peacekeeping, policing of treaties, European
Peace Facility (EPF) 2021, and Stopping
humanitarian atrocities and delivering
Humanitarian aid.