Thirteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Since the European Economy Community, the European project has been at the forefront of participation in the initiatives developed by other international organizations. In this paper, the author, through a descriptive-exploratory approach focused on the case study of the European Union, provides an updated account of EU’s participation in different categories of international organizations. In the first part of the paper, European involvement in other international organizations is assessed from a political and legal standpoint, including the treaty-based normative prescriptions. The second part looks into the membership and observer status in regional and global organizations, highlighting the differences in the patterns across continents. The study is limited at Asia, Africa, and Europe. Lastly, the paper concludes with a discussion on EU’s participation in these international organizations through an examination of the aims of participation in organizations, how the joint positions of EU member states are developed, programmes and projects supported by the European parts and how the financial support is disbursed in a variety of formats of participation in other international organisations. The paper provides input in the debate on how regional organisations contribute to global governance and shape it.