ABSTRACT
With the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty as the new ‘law of the land’ in the European Union (EU), a major milestone was achieved in the development of a coherent and autonomous European foreign policy. This does not comprise the supranationalization of foreign policy processes, but rather a new balance between individual and common interests, which needs to be found in foreign policy issues. Relations among Europeans have been a very important part of the Union’s contribution to global peace. The stabilization of the European continent after the Second World War was a major contribution to the consolidation and prosperity of the Western capitalist bloc, during the Cold War. After the democratic revolutions in Greece, Portugal and Spain the European Communities kept their commitment to regional peace and further enlarged, extending the benefits of membership to the poor underdeveloped south. After the Cold War, the member states continued this commitment and stepped up to the challenge of completing the reunification of the European continent, making the most ambitious enlargement ever, expanding the Union to 27 member states, by 2007. Others are already lining up to integrate the Union in the near future, fully justifying the belief that enlargement has been the EU’s most successful foreign policy tool.
