The European Union at the United Nations - Intersecting Multilateralisms

The European Union has declared that it would assume some responsibility for ensuring 'effective multilateralism', and supporting international organizations, above all the United Nations. This volume explores this intersection of multilateralisms - how one multilateral, regional organization is interacting with another, universal multilateral one. Contributors detail the development of the EU's coordination of diplomacy at the UN, analyze the extent to which EU member state diplomacy has been Europeanized, and evaluate the effectiveness of the EU at the UN. The study thus seeks to answer key questions, including: Can and does the EU lead within the UN? Can it promote 'effective multilateralism'? Is regionalism compatible with global governance, as exercised through the UN system? This volume provides evidence of the growth of the EU as a foreign policy actor in addition to identifying important qualifications of the EU's coherence and effectiveness as an actor within the UN context. The contributors show that the EU most often fails to make the UN as effective as it should be in addressing global challenges: the EU is failing to lead within the UN, and yet is still developing itself as a credible and reliable partner for the UN. REVIEWS 'Omnipresent grumbling about the UN encounters growing dissatisfaction about the EU. This invaluable collection provides a helpful counterweight with both insights and concrete examples illustrating when multilateralism matters to contemporary challenges of globalization and insecurity.' - Thomas G. Weiss, Presidential Professor, The CUNY Graduate Center, and Director, Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, USA 'The editors have elegantly integrated the contributions of several well-known experts on the European Union and the United Nations into a seamless and clearly written examination of a key issue in international relations. Contributors to Intersecting Multilateralisms expertly - and candidly - assess what this means for European governments, for the EU as a global actor and for the UN. While their conclusions are not uniformly flattering, either to the EU or the UN, they are highly informative...the broadest and deepest analysis of the European Union in the United Nations available in the literature of international relations.' - Donald J. Puchala, Byrnes Professor of International Studies, University of South Carolina, USA 'a very significant contribution to an important debate.' - European Foreign Affairs Review 'Thus, the broad, in-depth and competent analysis on the "intersections" between "the world's most successful case of multilateralism", the EU, and the most universal of all multilateral institutions, the UN, offered by this book - the most recent and comprehensive collection of essays by prominent European scholars on the issue - appears highly provocative.' - The International Spectator 'This book should be acclaimed by all scholars working on either the UN or the EU (or both)...' - Gilles Bertrand, David Michael Green, EUSA Review (European Union Studies Association)

List of Tables and Figures Notes on the Contributors List of Abbreviations Introduction: The European Union at the United Nations: Leader, Partner or Failure?; K.V.Laatikainen & K.E.Smith PART 1: BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK EU Representation and Coordination within the United Nations; M.Farrell PART 2: THE POLITICS OF NATIONAL INTEREST AND EU POLICY COORDINATION IN THE UN The European Powers in the Security Council: Differing Interests, Differing Arenas; C.Hill Pushing Soft Power: Middle Power Diplomacy at the UN; K.V.Laatikainen Returned to Europe? The Central and East European Member States at the Heart of the EU; E.Johansson-Nogués PART 3: THE EU IN UN POLICY ARENAS Effective Multilateralism and Collective Security: Empowering the UN; S.Biscop & E.Drieskens The EU in Geneva: Coordinating Policy in the Economic and Social Arrangements of the United Nations System; P.Taylor The European Union, Human Rights and the United Nations; K.E.Smith EU-UN Environmental Relations: Shared Competence and Effective Multilateralism; C.Damro PART 4: CONCLUSIONS Intersecting Multilateralisms: The European Union and Multilateral Institutions; K.E.Jørgensen Bibliography Index