THE EUROPEAN UNION’S IDENTITY AS AN INTERNATIONAL CIVILIAN ACTOR

Abstract

Treating the EU through the civilian power prism and its civilisatory mission (la mission civilisatrice) is one of the oldest distinctive European concepts relating to its international political power, and consequently, of its nature as a security actor in the international relations. Conceptualization of the EU as a civilian power first makes the author François Duchêne, that interpreting the security and power structure of the European Union, its attributes (such as: weak diplomacy, incoherency, and total deficit of armed forces) and of course its nature as foedus pacificum (League of peace), can be concluded and its existence as a civilian actor, tending to achieve civilian objectives. In that sense, this paper describes and analyzes the nature of the EU identity as a civilian security actor on the international political scene.