European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2012
13 Feb 2012
external pageECFR’s Scorecard assesses the EU’s performance on the global stage across all 27 states, in 6 issues broken down into 80 specific areas. It details the impacts of the euro crisis, the Arab Awakening, Germany’s growing leadership role and other issues on Europe’s global influence and its effectiveness in pursuing its interests.
- The euro crisis has led to a severe loss in soft power . In last year’s ECFR Scorecard we noted that Europe was distracted by the crisis; this year it was diminished by it. The EU is seen as less attractive to those wanting to join or to copy its multinational model.
- The crisis also limited Europe’s ability to react to the Arab Awakening – arguably the most important geopolitical event in its neighbourhood since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
- In the past Germany often deferred to France and Britain on foreign policy issues, but ECFR’s Scorecard now classifies it as a ‘leader’ in more areas than any other country. It was also classified as a ‘slacker’ on several – including Libya – indicating that it increasingly follows its own national interests.
- New foreign policy leaders are now emerging – Sweden was a ‘leader’ in 11 areas (more than Spain and Italy combined), and Poland was a ‘leader’ in 8.
The key findings in the six areas of external pageECFR’s Scorecard were:
- external pageChina (overall grade ‘C’) - Europe hoped to strengthen its approach to China in 2011, but Europe’s crisis turned into China’s opportunity, with European nations fighting each for Chinese markets, investments and cash.
- external pageMiddle East and North Africa (C+) – The Arab Awakening took everybody by surprise, but EU member states have so far failed to deliver on the promised ‘money, markets and mobility’. Libya highlighted some European divisions, and EU leaders have not yet developed a long term approach to the region.
- external pageRussia (C+) – The EU achieved an impressive degree of unity when dealing with Moscow, and there were concrete results in areas like trade. The impending return of Vladimir Putin, however, is ending a period of wishful thinking over its engagement with Russia.
- external pageUnited States (B-) – The US ‘leadership from behind’ in Libya showed that some European countries could play a dynamic international role and cooperate with the US. But it also revealed serious shortcomings in European capabilities, as the US starts pursuing its Asia First strategy at the expense of interest in Europe.
- external pageWider Europe (C+) – The EU achieved progress on issues such as enlargement in the Western Balkans, but relations with key regional player Turkey were (again) deeply troubled. There were only limited results in relations with Eastern Partnership countries.
- external pageMultilateral issues and crisis management (B) – Securing a legally binding deal on reducing carbon emissions at Durban was one of several qualified European successes. But the efforts to stabilise the euro zone overshadowed these, for instance in the troubled G20 summit in Cannes.
Listen to Hans Kundnani, one of the lead authors of the ECFR European Foreign Policy Scorecard, outlining the big stories in Europe's foreign policy, the successes and failures, and who led and who slacked:
For further information, use the links below:
external pageClick here for PDF downloads of ECFR’s European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2012
external pageClick here to visit an interactive internet version of the Scorecard on ECFR’s website
external pageClick here for audio interviews with the Scorecard’s authors in English, French and German
“One of the most invidious effects of the crisis is the creeping renationalisation of European foreign policy. There is still coordination, but instead of being able to present a powerful, united European face to the world, the trend is towards looking after national interests – and that will help none of us in the long term.” Justin Vaïsse