The United Nations & the European Union: Partners in Multilateralism. College of Europe EU Diplomacy Paper 4/2007, June 2007

Wouters, Jan. (2007) The United Nations & the European Union: Partners in Multilateralism. College of Europe EU Diplomacy Paper 4/2007, June 2007.

Abstract

In recent years, cooperation between the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) has grown exponentially. In this contribution I consider the motivations of the EU’s choice for the UN and the institutional complexities involved in the UN-EU relationship, both internally in the EU in order to obtain a better coordination among its 27 Member States, and externally, concerning the status of the EU within the UN system. After a brief overview of EU-UN cooperation in the areas of human development and security, I point to the uncertainties which both organizations face in their current reform processes, in particular the as of yet unresolved fate of the EU’s Constitutional Treaty, which contains provisions that could lead to a more unified EU representation in the UN.