Now that Iactually think about it properly, I cannot honestly say that I even fullyunderstand the foreign policy of the European Union or its intentions. I cannotrecall ever seeing a manifest type list of how the European Union would act inany given situation, however, there is no guarantee that I would have beenfully paying attention if I had.
From readingand watching the news, I know what action is taken by Great Britain in responseto foreign issues, such as offering aid or imposing sanctions, but I am notoften aware of whether this is guided by the European Union or Great Britaindirectly.
I get theimpression that the intention of the foreign policy is always to be on the sideof ‘right’ – that is, to act in the same manner as a good and moral personwould. However, I’m not sure that this actually works, in practice. Besidesthis, it is a matter of opinion as to what the right thing to do would be,accordingly, the foreign policy – no matter what it is – is never going tosatisfy everybody.
In manycases, regardless of how moral someone thinks they are, there is always likelyto be at least one person that disagrees with their course of action. Thiswould result in the foreign policy – at least for that person – being a poorone that is not fit for purpose.
When thinkingabout the European Union, especially with members as part of the G7 Summit, Iconsider the foreign policy to be one of problem solving.
This relates to bothwithin the European Union and outside of it as nothing actually comes in effectuntil there is an issue that requires solving.
When there isa crisis in another country, I would expect the foreign policy to come intoeffect and for all the member states to act in broadly the same manner, thoughnot necessarily exactly the same.
Forexample, I am sure that all the member countries do not give the same amount inaid to less developed countries.
Regardless ofwhat the foreign policy is, it appears to be quite unwieldy as I recall a storyabout being unable to cease trade to a country that no longer needed it as itwas due to be paid for several more years. Though this may have been theforeign policy of Great Britain directly, it still struck me as a nonsensicalsituation.
