The Influence of the European External Action Service in the Mediterranean region : what tools does the EEAS have to resolve conflicts in the region?

Abstract

The EU has proven to play an active role in international foreign policy. A statement that has been contested among politicians and scholars. A comprehensive account of the EU’s foreign policy is too broad for this thesis and requires an in-depth analysis, however the European External Action Service on its own is a good focus area. This thesis examines the role of the European External Action Service in the Mediterranean and the tools they use in order to resolve conflicts in the region or to maintain a form of stability. It focuses on EU foreign policy implementation by zooming in on three main conflict areas, namely Libya, Israel/Palestine and Iran. The choice of conflicts is the fact that two conflicts are still ongoing in the Mediterranean, while Iran is portrayed as the success story of the EEAS’s diplomacy in the Middle East. This thesis will discuss the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and the European Neighbourhood Policy with a focus on the EU’s tools to implement its foreign policy as well as the tools for conflict prevention. The EEAS is nearing its 10 years existence and this is the moment to see what has been done to focus on the major conflicts in the Mediterranean region. The importance of the neighbourhoods to the EU can not be underestimated, because of their geographic proximity they can contribute to or threaten the security, peace, stability in Europe. The main purpose of this thesis is to inform the reader about the mechanisms of the EEAS and its High representative and to acknowledge that we can not understand the whole migration issue without looking back at the countries of origin where chaos and conflicts prevail. This thesis focuses on secondary sources and also focuses on interviews with scholars and EEAS employees.