Championing multilateralism

Abstract

The European Union’s history, its evolution, its methodology, and the challenges it faces all militate in favour of a multilateral approach. The EU’s foreign policy for long evolved out of the projection of coordinated and gradually integrated domestic policies such as agriculture and trade. As a major trade power and development aid donor with an extensive geopolitical reach, the EU has increasingly brought its multilateral instincts effectively to bear in contexts such as the Paris climate change agreement. The multilateral system and hence also the European Union face particular but different challenges regarding the evolving foreign policy stances of the Russian Federation and China.