The external perceptions literature and the construction of gaps in European Union foreign policy

Abstract

An important and voluminous literature on the external perceptions of the EU has emerged, providing insights into how the world sees the EU. This review article argues that the literature on external perceptions is helpful for understanding the outside world’s approach to the EU from a constructivist perspective. The external perception literature also makes an important contribution to the debate about how and whether to look at the EU as a normative power in international politics. The external perception literature also points to a difference between the way in which the EU presents itself and the perception of the EU by other nations. This gap is viewed in the external perception literature as a problem for the EU as an international actor – the EU is presented as less than a full blown international actor in spite of what it assumes to be its potential in international politics. The main argument made in this article is that this view of the gap is a problem for the EU as an international actor and has broad implications. The articulation of the gap as a problem works to singling out the EU as an international actor with special problems and thus may contribute to creating or reinforcing the predicament that it is observing.