© Brieuc HUBIN / Eric LEMONNE
the diplomats interviewed. This bodes well for the EU's stance as a key player and its presence, terms employed in academic circles to denote the EU's capacity and power to act effectively on the international scene. In some areas, notably trade, regulatory and commercial matters and development policy, the EU is even recognised as enjoying excessive power, and for imposing its will by using the formidable tool of its market of nearly 500 million consumers. South African diplomats, for instance, complain of the EU’s tendency to use technical barriers in order to protect its market while promoting an official policy of tariff removals. According to an Indian diplomat, the powerful role that the EU plays in international trade affords it disproportionate representation in the World Trade Organization (WTO), an element which puts into question the actual multilateral vocation of the EU itself.
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Many capitals in non-EU countries recognise that coalescing and cooperating with the EU in efforts to reduce CO2 emissions raises their own international profile.
Indeed, the EU is progressively seen as an actor able to pursue its strategies in nearly all areas of external relations, barring certain limits with respect to traditional power politics. This position allows the Union to champion global efforts such as the fight against global warming, and many capitals in non-EU countries recognise that coalescing and cooperating with the EU in efforts to reduce CO2 emissions raises their own international profile. At the end of the day, diplomats in unison recognise that the EU is a growing and powerful international player, whose role cannot be ignored.
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One wonders whether Henry Kissinger, if asked today, might even be ready to forgive the EU for not having a single phone number. •••
> Caterina Carta Post doctoral fellow University of Siena Italian
> Armin Mayer Journalist Brussels German/American
N° 7 > SHIFT mag
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