The three largest member states -- Britain, France, and Germany -- have tended to respond to this paradox by pursuing closer trilateral cooperation. Of course, there's nothing wrong with vanguard groups of members forging ahead -- the recent diplomatic initiative concerning Iran's nuclear program is a case in point. Indeed, every member state can be expected to cling to its right to pursue an independent foreign policy for the foreseeable future.
However, to ensure that the European whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and to guarantee fairness to all Union members, all EU states must work within the parameters of EU policy, as they have in the case of Ukraine. When they do, their efforts strengthen the legitimacy and authority of both the member states and the Union.
In a world of fair play, the flip side of rule-making is compliance, and compliance may require enforcement, through economic sanctions and other non-military measures. As a last resort, the EU must even be prepared to rise to the military defense of the values and principles it believes are worth protecting. If Europe is not prepared to take up arms when it must, then its appeals for fair play will sound to the rest of the world like mere posturing.
But if fair play is to be made global, European initiatives should be part of broader international efforts, involving both like-minded partners such as the United States and multilateral institutions. A divisive transatlantic rivalry offers no ethical or political basis for an enlightened European approach. On the contrary, fair play requires American power to back it up.
Bernard Bot is Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, which currently holds the EU Presidency.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
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