Towards identifying the international identity of the European union: A framework for analysis of the Eu's network of relationships¹

Abstract

This article is intended to contribute to the development of a framework to analyse the international role of the European Union (EU). The article offers a framework to chart the network of relations that the EU has cultivated with nation‐states and regional groupings in the international system, discern differences in the extent or the depth of these relationships and analyse the manner in which such relationships are cultivated and maintained. The article commences by examining the approaches that have been adopted for conceptualizing the international role of the EU. It then proceeds to argue that the notion of international identity is valid for the analysis of the EU as an actor in the international system. The assertion is that the network of relations that the EU has cultivated, and maintains, through a set of instruments, represents one facet of an international identity of the EU.