Lords to investigate the EU's external affairs strategy

The Committee will investigate the effectiveness, strengths and weaknesses of the EU's foreign and security strategy, and will aim to publish its report in early 2016.

The inquiry will be paying special attention to the analysis being carried out by the European Union's High Representative on Foreign Affairs, which will culminate with a new EU global strategy in 2016.

Specific issues such as the upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa, and the EU's approach to potential enlargement, will also come under the spotlight.

The inquiry will consider other issues, such as:

• Should the EU be considered a global power?
• What are the EU's strategic interests?
• Do we in the UK share these interests?
• What should the balance be between looking at the EU's immediate neighbourhood and issues further afield?
• What are the EU's most effective foreign policy approaches?
• How well can the review by the High Representative establish an improved strategy?
• How could the UK feed into the review?

Committee Chairman, Lord Tugendhat, said:

“The EU is facing a number of new and evolving security challenges, both on its borders and further afield. From counter-terrorism, to peace-keeping, to conflict prevention, the EU's task is a daunting one.

How should the EU handle these challenges, and what should its security policy look like in order to cope with ever-shifting global threats?

We're opening this inquiry in order to establish just how effective the current EU foreign and security policy is, and whether the EU's efforts to develop a coherent external affairs strategy, one that can speak for all Member States, need to be improved.”

Written evidence must be received by Friday 30 September 2015.