The EU Polity and Foreign Policy Coherence

• Main Authors: PORTELA, Clara, RAUBE, Kolja
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2012
• Subjects: European Union; Coherence; Sanctions; Civilian crisis management; Polity types; Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation; Political Science
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1137; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/2393/viewcontent/EUPolityandPolicyCoherence_JCER.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The present article examines the character of the European Union (EU) as a polity by looking at the mechanisms it employs to ensure the coherence of its foreign policies. It first contrasts three ideal polity types. The methods chosen to ensure coherence in foreign policy actions differ according to each of the three polity types. The article then explores how the EU ensures coherence through institutional reform, and subsequently looks in detail at two illustrative policy fields: aid sanctions and civilian crisis-management. The investigation concludes that the organisation of EU foreign policies combines elements from different polity types.