EU Research Projects:'Global re-ordering: Evolution through European networks'

The EU is constantly re-examining its position and interests among old and new global powers. One initiative in this direction is helping to clarify foreign policy mechanisms and related governance.

As economies are shaken and new powers emerge in the age of a new global order, the EU is looking to safeguard its interests and values with respect to trade, politics and governance. The EU-funded project 'Global re-ordering: Evolution through European networks' (GREEN) is investigating how the EU can defend its own interests in the face of new challenges. It is also looking to ensure that European values and objectives influence how this global order evolves.

In more specific terms, the project is examining how the EU has developed flexible forms of experimental governance to incorporate different interests in individual policy areas rather than following a rigid 'one size fits all' model. This enables actors to facilitate mutual learning and share strategies for overcoming the challenges of global re-ordering.

To achieve its aims, the project team is identifying how varied types of behaviour have emerged in different policy areas and the level of success. It is examining how the EU interacts with other global actors and how it considers the interests and objectives of other powers, including new emerging ones.

Three key policy areas in particular have been examined, the first of which is related to labour, finance and trade. Another hot topic is security, including human rights and radicalisation. The third key topic tackles energy and environment, including coordination of energy strategies between individual European states.

Overall, the project team has identified a lack of clarity externally about the EU's role in global affairs. It proposed solutions to common problems, keeping in mind that Europe's ability as a global leader varies from issue to issue. This is also tied to how effective domestic forms of governance are within the EU and whether they result in a coherent EU-wide position. An example of conflicting opinions among Member States and vis-à-vis the EU's overall position is the bloc's response to the Arab Spring.

By the end of the project, GREEN will elucidate when and why Member States choose to act collectively in their relations with external partners. It will also offer insights into regional leaderships, as well as the actions and preferences of emerging powers in an increasingly multi-polar world. Our understanding of transnational policy networks as well as the relationship between regional governance and global crises will also be clearer.

Disentangling the EU's foreign policy mechanisms and global governance structure is expected to lead to practical policy proposals. The project's website will provide access to working papers and publications, offering stakeholders a wealth of information on the topic. Through this initiative, the EU can render its role in a globally evolving world among old and new world powers a more effective one.

Σχετικός Σύνδεσμος:
cordis.europa.eu