Overview
- A multidisciplinary approach to studying the EU’s (geopolitical) actorness, spanning scholars of many disciplines
- An empirically-grounded analysis of the European Union’s (geopolitical) actorness
- A snapshot of the EU’s geopolitical actorness across various policy terrains and in interaction with other actors
Part of the book series: Global Europe: Legal and Policy Issues of the EU’s External Action (GELPIEEA, volume 5)
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About this book
This edited book investigates whether ─ and if so, to what extent ─ the European Union began to turn its recently uttered ambition of becoming a geopolitical Union into practice. It does so by bringing a range of scholars from various institutions and disciplines ─ among others, political science, European law, European studies ─ together, asking them whether in their specific field, they can observe a geopolitical turn in the European Union's policy-making. The result of this intellectual endeavour can be found in this book; a book that makes a first attempt at empirically testing the Union's ability to effectively respond to ever- and rapidly-changing conditions for conducting international politics in a rule-based system. The volume is divided into two separate, yet mutually informing, parts. Part I consists of a series of empirical chapters assessing the EU's actorness vis-à-vis other regional powers, regional and international organisations. This is followed by several empirical snapshots looking into specific policy areas in Part II. As we combine the insights from both parts, we attempt to contribute to the debate on the changing nature of the European Union in challenging times. Our approach, then, is primarily an empirical one. And yet, building upon these conclusions, we are able to also draw conceptual conclusions about the EU's increasing geopolitical nature, or the lack thereof. These conclusions make this a relevant read not only for academics, but also for practitioners of European law and European integration.
Marek Neuman is Assistant Professor in EU Foreign Policy and Jean Monnet Chair of European Politics and Governance at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Ramses A. Wessel is Professor of European Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Thijs de Zee is a PhD Candidate at the Faculty Campus Fryslân of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Chapter 3 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
Keywords
- Geopolitical European Union
- European geopolitics
- EU strategic autonomy
- EU foreign policy
- EU law and geopolitics
- EU law and strategic autonomy
- EU global actorness
- Geopolitical pragmatism
- EU external relations
- Geopolitical European Commission
Editors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: A Geopolitical Europe in the Making?
Book Subtitle: The EU’s Actorness in a (De-)Globalising World
Editors: Marek Neuman, Ramses A. Wessel, Thijs de Zee
Series Title: Global Europe: Legal and Policy Issues of the EU’s External Action
Publisher: T.M.C. Asser Press The Hague
eBook Packages: Law and Criminology, Law and Criminology (R0)
Copyright Information: T.M.C. Asser Press and the authors 2025
Hardcover ISBN: 978-94-6265-669-7Due: 10 July 2025
Softcover ISBN: 978-94-6265-668-0Due: 10 July 2026
eBook ISBN: 978-94-6265-666-6Due: 10 July 2025
Series ISSN: 2666-4828
Series E-ISSN: 2666-4836
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XII, 205
Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations, 3 illustrations in colour