ABSTRACT
In this chapter we move beyond examination of the various sectors of EC/ EU external policy, to consider broader issues associated with the EU’s role in post-Cold War Europe. Discussion ranges from the aspiration, enshrined in the Treaty on European Union, to construct a common defence for the EU, to the potential for the EU to play a central role in ensuring the stability and security of Europe as a whole. These issues are highly significant. They place the EU at the heart of major contemporary debates concerning European security-in which two very different sets of understandings compete to shape approaches to security issues. They also evoke earlier controversies over the nature of the EC/EU which impinge, in turn, upon its capacity as an actor in global politics.
