The actor identity of the European Union : the impact of the institutional reforms of the 2000 Intergovernmental Conference on the acceleration of European actor identity

Abstract

The changing geopolitical environment and the advent of the new millennium both culminated at a time when the European Union was itself experiencing generic upheaval, derived in part from an 'identity crisis'. The European experiment, originally conceived to secure lasting European peace and economic prosperity, was now confronting completely new challenges, in a completely new and different geopolitical environment. Recognising the need for substantive intergovernmental reform, European politicians convened the 2000 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to the address longstanding procedural deficits that have undermined the European Union's ability to evolve and act. This thesis develops the notion of European evolution as an ongoing integrative experience, through which the tangible characteristics of an international identity have been developed. This thesis focuses on how these actor attributes will be accelerated by the institutional and procedural reforms of the 2000 Intergovernmental Conference.