Geoeconomic Power Europe: When Global Power Competition Drives EU Integration

Abstract

The European Union's (EU's) ‘geoeconomic turn’ denotes the growing integration of international security considerations into EU economic policies. This article introduces the concept of ‘geoeconomic power Europe’ to show how this development has the potential to renew debates on the nature of EU power. Most existing conceptualisations of EU power – whether characterised as civilian, normative, market based, regulatory or liberal – tend to focus on the EU's endogenous characteristics. However, the added value of the concept of geoeconomic power is that it redirects attention to the ‘co-constitution’ loop between global power competition and the evolution of EU power. In this article, I present an analytical framework that highlights the drivers of EU geoeconomic power and distinguishes between systemic pressures, the intra-EU policy process and the impact on EU power. I conclude that the concept of geoeconomic power Europe can help to bridge theories of international security and economic interdependence, particularly neorealism and neofunctionalism.