Minyie Abadi
Origin of the European Union common foreign policy
Informally established by the Member States in 1970, the European Political Cooperation (EPC) was institutionalised under the Single European Act of 1987, and essentially provided mechanisms for consultation among Member States on matters of general foreign policy.
In the light of the geo-political changes under way in Europe the early 1990s (German reunification, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the Warsaw Pact), and of intensified nationalistic tensions in the Balkans that would later lead to the dismembering of Yugoslavia, the Union’s Member States decided to establish a “common foreign policy” on the basis of the provisions of the Maastricht Treaty (1993), subsequently modified at Amsterdam and Nice.
Today’s European Union works to ensure a high level of cooperation in all sectors of international relations with the following aims:
• defend its values, fundamental interests, security, independence and integrity;
• consolidate and support democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the principles of international law;
• maintain peace, preventing conflicts and strengthening international security, in accordance with the objectives and principles of the UN Charter as well as the Final Helsinki Act and the goals of the Paris Charter, including those concerning external borders;
• foster sustainable development in developing countries on economic, social and environmental planes, with the main goal of eliminating poverty;
• encourage the integration of all countries into the world economy through the gradual abolition of international trade restrictions;
• contribute to the drafting of international measures aimed at protecting the environment and sustainable management of the world’s natural resources, with a view to ensuring sustainable development;
• help populations,