The broken European Lighthouse

Abstract

The very ideas of “European Union” and “European border” were put to test by the shipments of tens of thousands of human beings in frontline Member States such as Italy and Greece in a period of already great crisis for the EU, also faced with a possible collapse of the Eurozone and the exit of the United Kingdom from the Union. Another key problem for the EU’s Foreign and Security Policy is the clash between the Eurosphere and Russia in a country that had to decide whether to enter the Euro-Asian Union or sign a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union, resulting in coup d’état, civil war, wars of conquest and a growing fear of a Russian invasion, in particular among the Eastern Members of the Union. This kind of problems are altogether new for the EU and what the Union is doing and will do to tackle them will probably define much of the destiny and scope of the Union itself. Since its foundation the European Union has been given more and more tools by Member States, becoming a strategic actor with its own autonomous military and civilian capabilities. It has successfully proven its effectiveness all around the world, but today it has to answer calls much closer to home. What are the tools at its disposal that the Union has this far used to tackle the migrant crisis and the Ukrainian crisis? Can the solidarity clause and the collective defence clause be used in such events? Is the European lighthouse still functioning or is it broken?