The EU as a Global Actor: Speaking with One Voice or a Gaggle of Geese?

Lecture Series The European Union as Global International Actor: strategic autonomy in a changing international context

The Department of Law of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance of the University of Luxembourg, with the support of the Luxembourg National Research Fund and the Erasmus + Programme of the European Commission, and in collaboration with the Luxembourg Centre for European Law, is organising this lecture.

Prof. Allan Rosas, Dr.Jur., Dr.Jur. h.c., Dr.Sc.Pol. h.c., Professor Emeritus.

(Supported by the Luxembourg National Research Fund, RESCOM/2024/LE/18832235 and the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union, ERASMUS-JMO-2024-HEI-TCH-RSCH)

Abstract

The aspiration to make the European Union (EU) a global actor “speaking with one voice” and playing a leading role in international affairs has become all the more important in the current international context, to prevent the Union from being sidelined and unable to uphold its values and interests.

In this lecture, Allan Rosas will argue that, while it is true that the EU has been able to become a global international actor, inter alia, by the creation of a network of international agreements and by developing a sanctions policy, a reality-check will demonstrate that in many respects the Union will appear more like a “gaggle of geese”, rather than a powerful entity “speaking with one voice”.

The lecture will focus on such situations demonstrating the inherent weaknesses in the actions of the Union externally, in particular in the field of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The lecture will end up by asking, what are the real causes and explanations for the current state of affairs and what are the prospects, if any, for a Union which would be able to deal with the US, China and other major powers “auf Augenhöhe”, on equal terms.

Speaker

Allan Rosas, Dr.Jur., Dr.Jur. h.c., Dr.Sc.Pol. h.c.
Professor Emeritus | Legal Scholar | Former EU Judge

Allan Rosas is a distinguished legal scholar and former Judge at the European Court of Justice (2002–2019). He currently serves as a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, the Global School of Law (Católica University, Lisbon), and the University of Bologna.

He is President of the Article 255 TFEU Panel, an external member of the Ethics Committee of the European Court of Auditors, and former President of the Independent Ethical Committee of the European Commission.

Previously, he was Associate Professor of Public Law at the University of Turku (1978–1981), Armfelt Professor of Law at Åbo Akademi University (1981–1995), and served as Director and later Deputy Director-General of the Legal Service of the European Commission (1995–2002).

He holds a Doctor of Laws degree and honorary doctorates in law and political science.

Location

University of Luxembourg

Campus Kirchberg - Weicker Building

Room B001 (ground floor)

4, rue Alphonse Weicker, L-2721 Luxembourg

Language

English

RESCOM/24/18832235

The European Union as global international actor: strategic autonomy in a changing international context

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10 March: European Strategic Autonomy and European Values in the Context of Crisis, Prof. Federico Casolari, University of Bologna. Discussant: Prof. Ramses Wessel, University of Groningen

4 April: Digital Strategic Autonomy in the EU’s External Action, Prof. Elaine Fahey, City University of London. Discussants: Prof. Stefan Braum, University of Luxembourg, Prof. Herwig Hofmann, University of Luxembourg

19 May: Facing the Security Challenge, Prof Isabelle Bosse Platière, University of Rennes, Discussant: Prof Peter Van Elsuwege, University of Ghent, Dr Luigi Lonardo, University College Cork

5 June: The Foreing Subsidies Regulation: The External Dimension of EU Competition Policy, Prof Wolfgang Weiss, University Speyer