Actorness and the study of the EU's external action

One of the oldest questions in the study of the European Union’s (EU) external action has been the extent to which it is indeed an actor in international affairs. This chapter shows that the state of play behind the prominent and seemingly straightforward notion of ‘actorness’ is complex as scholars share the ambition to define the concept but not the criteria for doing so. It presents an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and ‘threats’ of actorness as a research tool. As a case study the chapter gauges the EU’s actorness at the United Nations General Assembly at the time when the Union was searching for an enhanced observer status in line with the Lisbon Treaty reforms (2010-2011). It shows that applying different definitions of actorness to the same case may produce varying interpretations on whether the EU’s enhanced observer status has in fact increased its degree of actorness at the United Nations.

ISBN:9781352012125

Jaar van publicatie:2021

Toegankelijkheid:Closed