ABSTRACT
A significant branch of literature nowadays claims that the European Union
(EU) is a ‘distinctive’ world power. The argument is that the EU behaves dif-
ferently in world politics as it is differently constituted: its initial telos (peace
through integration), its historical developments and its current institutional
and normative framework (a post-Westphalian entity with a set of core
norms) are believed to make it act as a ‘qualitatively’ different global actor.
