EU’s Civilian Power Preference in the International System

Abstract

The EU, which aims at economic integration in Europe with a neo-functionalist approach and then moves towards political unity, did not focus on the foreign policy dimension. Duchene, who made a conceptual classification of the EU's effectiveness in the international arena in the 1970s, defined the EU as "civilian power". The EU, combined the common foreign and security policies in the Maastricht Treaty’s second column, aimed to be univocal and more effective in the international system. The EU, preferring positive conditionally with diplomatic and economic assistance, aimed to be an effective actor in the international system. Although the EU has recently mentioned its name with military missions, it has preferred positive sanctions with economic aid, incentives and privileged trade agreements.  This study concludes that the EU, which reinforces and actively uses civilian power instead of military preferences, is a civilian power.