ABSTRACT
The European Union is neither a model for governance abroad nor a countermodel: it is a reference, for regional construction in other continents, a reality, in terms of policy-making and actorship nobody can seriously deny. The Community method and the acquis communautaire were at the centre of the small community who had the main goal of stabilising peace in the continent which originated two world wars. Today this hard core is not sufficient: enlargement to 27 member states and governance complexity provoked internal and external crises (economic turmoil, Euro-crisis, COVID, migration, war, and as a consequence, a populist wave. This challenge looked to be stopped by the 2019 European elections, while the COVID, war and energy crisis are fostering a new wave of democratic crises in the West. The EU resilience was only possible through exceptional measures of further integration (recovery plan, defence policy, unity against Russia, energy policy) and a multidimensional defensive and offensive agenda, able to shape global governance. But also defensive, because of the threat of being marginalised by the bifurcation between the US and China and the Russian aggression in Ukraine.
The EU has been obliged to evolve as a fledgling form of multilateralist civilian and geopolitical power. Institutionally the EU is challenged by the need for institutional transformation enhancing the EU’s capacity to act via differentiated integration.
