ABSTRACT
All studies and theories of the European Union (EU) in world politics are normative. By this I mean, echoing Cochran (1999: 1), that all those engaged in the study of the EU in world politics cannot avoid normative assumptions regarding evidence, interpretation and significance in their research. In this chapter I will interrogate what I mean when I argue that the EU represents a normative power in world politics, if all other studies are also normative. I will thus explicate my understanding of what it means to be ‘normative’ in the context of rethinking ethical foreign policy.
