Paper Titles & Abstracts

The European Union has developed a strong public commitment to the United Nations. In political terms, this commitment was postulated with the 2003 European Security Strategy, stating that "strengthening the United Nations, equipping it to fulfill its responsibilities and to act effectively, is a European priority". The paper analyses how this political commitment to the UN is transmitted in both legal and political terms. Regarding the legal aspects, the paper examines the strong emphasis on cooperation with the UN, postulated with the 2009 Lisbon Treaty. Furthermore, the paper focuses on EU's legal standing at the UN; EU's involvement in UN's political priorities; and the EU-UN operational and financial cooperation.The paper argues that though there is a close cooperation between the two organisations, the EU is not itself a member of the UN. In fact, it has no legal standing within UN's main political bodies. This situation is further complicated by two factors. First, the UN itself has a complex institutional structure, with the General Assembly and the Security Council having the most prominent but also conflict-ridden decision-making history. Second, most of the EU Member States were members of the UN before they were members of the EU.The paper further examines the complex political relationships between the EU and the UN with regard to UN's most important operational activities: conflict prevention; humanitarian aid; peacekeeping. Finally, the paper concludes with certain suggestions regarding the future development of EU and UN relationships and, especially, the ways in which they will be influenced by the EU's recently granted status of an enhanced observer at the UN General Assembly.