The EU and Multilateral Crisis Management: Assessing Cooperation and Coordination with the UN

Abstract

Multilateralism sits high on the European foreign policy agenda and constitutes a founding principle of the EU’s integration process. Yet, a comparative analysis of key missions and diplomatic initiatives in the field of crisis management reveals lights and shadows in the much-heralded ‘choice of multilateralism’ underpinning the cooperation between the EU and the UN. On the one hand, the EU strives to support the UN and operate legitimately within its framework and mandate; on the other hand, it wishes to carve out an autonomous space for its role in multilateral crisis management, be it through military means or though diplomatic strategies. Moreover, institutional cooperation at the top-level has not always resulted in good coordination on the ground, thus undermining ‘effective multilateralism.’