Global Europe

The European Union (EU), though comprised of fifteen separate, sovereign states, is constrained by treaty to act ""as one"" in key areas. And as trader, investor, aid donor, and most recently, foreign-policy marker, it has come to play, in a very short time, a pivotal role on the world stage. This book offers a succinct summary of all of the EU's external activities - and of the impact European integration has come to have far beyond the EU's borders. Piening traces how the EU's external relations have grown over forty-odd years of its existence to become what they are today. Discussions of trade policy, emerging foreign and security policy, the role the Union plays in developing countries and in its own ""near abroad"", and the kinds of influence it exerts internationally all demonstrate the complex web of formal and informal ties that now link it with all but half a dozen of the world's countries. ""Global Europe"" provides a unique, and uniquely engaging, overview of an increasingly important international actor.