It is two decades since the 1992 Treaty of Maastricht set the EU objective of asserting its identity on the international scene. During that time the EU has slowly and fitfully evolved an international identity in global politics that is distinct from those of its member states and different from those of other global actors. Both the content and form of this identity are the product of a continuous negotiation and engagement with global politics by the EU, including discourses such as ‘effective multilateralism’ and ‘normative power’. This session examines the evolution, construction and consequences of the international identity of the EU as part of an introduction to the EU and global governance.

Keynote lecture to the European University Institute, Florence, Academy of Global Governance.