Migration, Work and Citizenship in the Enlarged European Union – By S. Currie

Abstract

relations. To answer this question, she analyses why and how the EU pursues five key foreign policy objectives: the encouragement of regional co-operation and integration; the promotion of human rights; the promotion of democracy and good governance; the prevention of violent conflicts; and the fight against international crime.The introductory chapters prepare the ground for the assessment: the first inquires into the EU's distinctive international identity and points to the obstacles and potential for a common EU foreign policy; then the evolution of the EU as an international actor is described through the development of three distinctive pillars; followed by an evaluation of the EU's foreign policy instruments (diplomatic, economic and military -with the latter though meriting somewhat more attention). The following five chapters constitute the heart of the book. Each objective is analysed thoroughly in a separate chapter, with the clear structure of the chapters assisting the reader in the comparison of the EU's policy output. Each chapter examines the internal and external pressures that led to the adoption of this objective, and assesses the mix of policy instruments used to try to achieve these objectives.The approach followed gives an excellent insight into the complexities of EU foreign policy. It also illuminates the many policy dilemmas, with objectives clashing not only with each other, but also with other policy objectives. This leads to a first critical remark -or to a suggestion for the next edition. In the first chapter, the author might have contextualized the five objectives more extensively within the current set of increasingly important competing foreign policy objectives. Moreover, the chapter on regional co-operation (a goal which is now less important than at the time of the first edition) could have been replaced by a new chapter on, for instance, the objective of maintaining good relations with 'strategic partners' (such as Russia and China), or on 'new' foreign policy objectives (such as energy supply and environmental goals). A second remark is related to what Karen Smith rightly notes in the concluding pages of the book: the need for more investigation on the actual impact of the EU's foreign policy on the outside world. In the next edition of her book she should integrate this dimension by exploring not only what the EU foreign policy system actually does, but also what it actually