Will the EU Ever Become a Superpower?

On July 17, the Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb discussed the prospects and challenges of the EU becoming a superpower in the international arena. While the EU is the largest political union, single market, and aid donor in the world, it is not a superpower in the defense or foreign policy spheres. Factors constraining the EU’s rise to superpower status include its lack of statehood in the international system, a lack of internal drive to project power worldwide, and nostalgia for the nation-state amongst some Europeans. To become an actual superpower in the coming years, Mr. Stubb urged the EU to approve and ratify the Lisbon Treaty, create an EU foreign ministry, develop a common EU defense, hold one collective seat at the UN Security Council and G8, and address what he described as the “sour mood” toward the EU prevalent in some European countries today.