A New Start for EU Peacemaking? Past Record and Future Potential

The Lisbon Treaty has equipped the European Union with more tools in the field of foreign and security policy and provides for a new beginning for Europe in international peacemaking. In this report a team of researchers at the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) of the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, demonstrates that there is a need for such a new start. In the documentation of EU engagement in international affairs, the report finds the record to be below expectations. The report also asserts that there is a potential for the EU to take on a more significant international role. The report recommends that the EU should refocus its interna-tional conflict activity to constructive engagements for peace and security; make more use of, and develop, its crisis manage-ment capacities; and strengthen its performance in peacekeep-ing. These dimensions of peacebuilding should be integrated into a new doctrine of international conflict resolution, firmly rested on the values expressed in the Lisbon Treaty. Further-more, the EU should emphasise its role as a leading force for human rights and democracy by making its actions more effec-tive; draw on the competence of the entire Union; and make its goals clearer and increase its visibility when cooperating with other international bodies