Hidden Realism

A Shift Away from Normative Foreign Policy

Abstract

The European Union – as a sui generis political entity – possesses distinctive characteristics in its foreign policy as well. Since its creation, the goal of European integration has been to become a global actor. However, when examining the EU’s external relations, its activities are not limited to the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). According to the research, the EU’s foreign affairs beyond the CFSP also include actions toward third countries, such as enlargement and neighbourhood policies, the common commercial policy, and other donor programs and forms of cooperation. Both academic literature and the EU’s own interpretation describe the EU globally as pursuing what is professionally termed a “normative foreign policy.”

This has two main reasons. First, the EU is a political entity but not a state. As an actor lacking sovereignty, it does not possess unlimited freedom of action or full actor status in the international arena. Second, the EU focuses on promoting its values through normative instruments rather than classical (realist) foreign policy tools. This characteristic has been described as a “liberal grand strategy” or “normative power.”

However, since the Lisbon Treaty came into force, significant changes have occurred in EU foreign affairs. EU actions such as cooperation with Ukraine (political, military, and financial support programs), sanctions against Russia and Belarus (after the Crimea crisis and the 2022 war), agreements with Turkey on migration issues, and confrontations with China (over Taiwan and the Uyghurs) all indicate a departure from the normative character and a shift toward a more realist approach. The EU has begun moving toward classical foreign policy practices.

This study seeks to offer new theoretical interpretations of this emerging European foreign policy approach. By distinguishing partners based on symmetric and asymmetric mutual interests and analyzing different foreign policy actions, it demonstrates that, in certain cases, the EU follows a realist approach, albeit with a normative justification.

The research applied qualitative methods: the research questions were examined through semi-structured in-depth interviews with EU officials and process-tracing analysis.