ABSTRACT
This chapter examines briefly the debates around the European Union (EU) credentials as an international actor, and by suggesting the significance of the developments that have taken place in the EU's international involvement. The EU is a major component of the contemporary world arena, at one end of the spectrum, who can discern a progression in the EU towards full-fledged international 'actorness', comparable to that of the national states that comprise the major concentrations of power in world politics. The chapter examines briefly the debates which have centred around the EU's credentials as an international actor, and by suggesting the significance of the developments that have taken place in the EU's international involvement. The argument in the chapter has tested both the substantive basis for claims about the EU's international significance and the broader conceptual claims made by those who foresee the emergence of a 'foreign policy' conducted by the Union or its representatives.
