The EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy: The Quest for Democracy

Helene Sjursen

Sep 2013 · Routledge

About this ebook

This book reorients the study of European foreign and security policy towards the question of democracy. Blending insights from international relations and democratic theory, it aims to enhance our understanding of the issues at stake. The main structures, the institutional setting and the procedures that govern decision-making in this domain are examined. In this way, the book supplements studies with a more traditional focus on the substance of foreign policy. What are the democratic challenges in this distinct field of policy-making?

The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union (EU) is usually assumed to be intergovernmental. Contributors to this book examine the extent to which a move beyond intergovernmentalism has taken place, how this manifests itself, and what may be the democratic implications. While the EU’s international outlook testifies to a quest for democracy, the institutions and procedures that govern decision-making are found wanting.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Journal of European Public Policy.

About the author

Helene Sjursen is Professor at ARENA – Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway, she has been at ARENA since 1997. Her main fields of academic interest include the EU as an international actor, EU's foreign and security policy and EU enlargement.