The EU as a Regional Actor: A Framework for Analysis

The EU enacts its security policy on different levels and through various frameworks and structures of cooperation. One of these levels is the regional dimension (i.e. within the Union) where the EU acts as a regional security actor. This paper puts forward a framework for analysis of this regional dimension and the various elements underpinning EU security policy in this spatial realm. The framework consists of an analysis of (i) the institutional dimension underpinning a security issue, (ii) the EU’s policy output, and (iii) an evaluation of the Union’s institutional and output dimension; this ‘check-up’ of EU policy through the assessment of its coherence, the current levels of accountability, and the legitimacy of EU action enables a reflection on the merits of EU policy in the security field.