Behind the scenes: The creation of the European Union Global Strategy

19 March 2018

Introduction

In this blog post Giorgia Miccoli reviews the latest publication of Nathalie Tocci, Deputy Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali and Special Advisor of the High Representative. The author focuses on the important role of this piece of work in providing an insight into the negotiation phase of the European Union Global Strategy. Being a non-academic book, written by a scholar, ‘Framing the EU Global Strategy: A Stronger Europe in a Fragile World’ is considered to be a precious contribution, accessible for everyone, from students to policy-makers.

The 2016 EU Global Strategy (EUGS) for foreign and security policy is largely considered as one of the most relevant steps taken by the European Union in recent times. After a period of endogenous and exogenous challenges, among which Brexit has been the most threatening unforeseen event to the success of the EUGS, a new phase of strategic reasoning was more than ever necessary.

In her work, Nathalie Tocci invites scholars, experts but also undergraduates and postgraduates to look closely on the behind the scenes that preceded and followed the EUGS. Tocci’s book investigates the “troubled journey” (p. 2) that brought to the two texts of strategic reflection of the EU, namely the 2015 strategic assessment and the 2016 EUGS. This piece of work, written in fall 2016 and before the implementation of the EUGS achieved a crucial moment, aims at providing answers to key questions, specifically why an actor like the EU decides to produce a strategy, how such a strategy is developed, what constitutes a strategy and what comes after it. The author creates a parallelism throughout the whole book between the EUGS and its predecessor, the 2003 European Security Strategy, comparing the two documents to highlight the main differences between them and to better analyse the breaking importance of the 2016 strategy. Like a “fly in the machine”, as Tocci usually refers to her role in Brussels, the author provides an insider view. Indeed, at 41 years old, Nathalie combined her role as the Deputy Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) to that of Special Advisor, entrusted by the HRVP Federica Mogherini. Notwithstanding the scholarly experience of the author, the book is not a typical academic piece of work and as argued by Tocci it has a “hybrid nature”, that probably is both the strength and the weakness of the final product.

The book is built up on five chapters, four of which provide extensive answers to the main questions mentioned above. Avoiding an academic approach, the author addresses the different stages that led to the publishing of the EUGS as someone who has worked directly on the document. In doing so, however, she refrains from providing a technically comprehensive outlook, meaning that she inebriates the reader with interesting insights, but rests on the surface when dealing with the most technical details of the behind the scenes.

Tocci opens with a comparison between the political rationale behind Solana’s 2003 ESS and Mogherini’s 2016 EUGS. While the ESS has been developed in a propitious moment for the EU, with the Euro that just started circulating, the EUGS saw the light when the Union was most divided. Indeed, among the three main reasons for a strategy, the author reserved a more extensive analysis to the strengthening of the political unity. Giving large space to the wise choices of the HRVP, the Tocci recounts the “collective effort” (p. 40) made to achieve a necessary broader and deeper outreach and consultation process among the diverse range of actors involved. Differentiating itself from its own predecessors, the structuring of the EUGS required the engagement not only of the member states and the Commission, but also of Universities, students, think tanks and of the private sector. These efforts have not been reduced after the leave vote of the 23rd June 2016 but, on the contrary, increased. Indeed, in response to the referendum’s results, the HRVP wisely decided not to drop the EUGS.

Concerning the content of the strategy, Tocci highlighted the decision to provide a more all-encompassing title to the document, that classifies itself not only as a security strategy but also as a global strategy. Among the main interests, principles and priorities of the EUGS, the author stresses the prioritisation of security, that directly results from the number of threats the EU is facing and from the always reducing American interest in European security. The “biggest challenge” (p. 88), however, is implementation. In this regard, a crucial role has been played by the HRVP, who signalled that despite the resistance of certain circle, implementation would have dealt especially but not only with security and defence. The importance of other instruments for external action, such as trade and development, is still acknowledged in Brussels. This notwithstanding, the area of security and defence “had the strongest wind in its sails” (p. 91) and Brexit has inevitably had a great role in that, on fast track from being a damaging variable to being a constructive outcome.

Doubtlessly, Tocci does an extremely prestigious work with her book, providing the reader with a privileged access to what has been the reasoning and the path towards the EUGS. Her being completely part of the process allows her to tell the story from a unique perspective. Moreover, the conscious decision to write an accessible book for everyone can be considered as an added value. However, willing to please every kind of reader, the book risks to lose potential. Indeed, a more detailed, technical (and also academic) insight on how the document has been materially drafted, in terms of more practical work could have made the book an even more comprehensive contribution.

This notwithstanding, the book, that is entirely written in the first person, is a key document in today’s analysis of European politics for all those who want to grasp better how the latest EUGS came into being. In little more than 90 pages, it does not only frame the EUGS, it also frames the current geopolitical context and the crucial role the EU had and will continue to have in this chaos.

Framing the EU Global Strategy: A Stronger Europe in a Fragile World
Nathalie Tocci
Palgrave Macmillan, 2017
184 pages
ISBN: 9783319555850

Giorgia Miccoli is a intern at the Centre for European Research.