UMBERTO MORELLI 

L' Europa e la pace. Il ruolo dell'Unione Europea dopo il trattato di Maastricht

N. 175

Summary — The essay deals with Common Foreign and Security Policy as stated by the Maastricht Treaty. First of all it outlines briefly the history of European Political Co-operation in the 1970s, its changes in the 1980s following the Single European Act, the origin of the Maastricht treaty and underlines the link between an effective peace system and federal institutions. The essay examines the CFSP from the federalist point of view: aims, the setting up of a common (as opposed to single) policy, procedures, decision-making, relations between the CFSP and the European Union member states, tasks of the European institutions (the Council, the Commission, the European Parliament), the function of the Western European Union and its link with the CFSP, the connection between the CFSP and the external policies of the European Community. Then the author stresses the limits of the CFSP, above all its intergovernmental, as opposed to federal, features. He explains how this hampers its success and prevents Europe from speaking with one voice, in line with its emergence as an international power. Finally the author proposes a possible evolution of the CFSP towards a more efficient foreign and security policy. The author argues that the reinforcement of the CFSP along federal lines will allow the European Union to play a meaningful role in ensuring world peace and economic development.