THE SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLES CONTRIBUTORS ABOUT THE JOURNAL
The long legacy of Dorian Gray: Why the European Union needs to redefine its perspective, responsibility and role in global affairs by Hartmut Mayer abstract The article analyses the future of EU foreign policy and Europe 's role in global governance from a normative and from an outside perspective. It argues that Europe needs to acknowledge an increasingly peripheral place in world affairs. It therefore has to create a new narrative for EU external affairs in the 21st century that does not see Europe as the anchor of the world. The EU can only remain credible and effective if it fundamentally shifts its mind-set from Europe's promises and ambitions to Europe 's global obligations. What matters is not what Europe wants to do, but what Europe has to do to fulfil global duties. Based on six general principles of responsibility (capacity, community, consent, contribution, beneficiary and legitimate expectation principles), the article then defines priorities and primary obligations for Europe that reflect the EU's actual capacities. It calls for a more modest EU that avoids raising unrealistic and exaggerated expectations. Instead of assuming more tasks by chance or choice, the EU must have a clearer sense of what it should do alone and what has to be done through better inter-institutional co-operation. A responsible EU would overcome Euro-centric notions of self-importance and would remain significant only if it served the global community by its very considerable economic and political means.
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