Will the question “Is the USA a global player?” cross one’s mind? I don’t think so. Now, how many times European scientists and politicians were posing the question: is the EU a global player? The answer is – many. Some of them were trying to argue that the EU is a global player, some of them are less optimistic about the role of the EU in the modern world.
To answer this question (if it is possible) I will try to examine what is already done and what has to be done in order to make the EU a real global player.
1. Common foreign policy. Since the adoption of the Single European Act in 1986 the EU Member States were obliged to formulate and implement a European foreign policy jointly (art. 30). So, this was the first but not least attempt to create common foreign policy. The Treaty of Maastricht in 1992 established the second of the three pillars of the European Union - the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). CFSP deals only with "a specific part of the EU External Relations, which domains include mainly Trade and Commercial Policy and other areas as funding to third countries", etc. The fact is that CFSP has many weaknesses that undermine the role the EU as a strong player on international arena. Not only member states have rights to decide about their foreign policy but also within the EU institutions exist several (at least three) position that are represented by different persons, who can speak on behalf of the EU. If the Lisbon treaty will be ratified by all member states (Irish electorate rejected the ratification of the LT in summer 2008), then the current functions of the High Representative for common foreign and security policy (CFSP) will be combined with those of a Vice-President of the Commission (creating a new player with "two hats" - the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission). In this case, the EU at least will speak with one voice on behalf of the EU institutions.
2. Common energy policy. Why energy policy? Because energy issue is on the top of political agenda in all EU member states and in the EU institution. This question is crucial for security and sustainable development of the European Union. Several energy supply crises have highlighted Europe's growing dependency on external sources of energy. The main problem for the EU is that it is dependent on only few energy suppliers: Algeria, Norway and Russia. Concerns with European energy dependence on external supply were stressed already in the European security strategy "A Secure Europe in a Better World" in 2003. So, to ensure energy security, comprehensive measures in internal and external policies are required. But first of all, the common position and common strategy must be formulated and pursued. The fact is that, the EU has been adopted numerous of the documents that regard EU energy policy (such as Green Paper, "A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy'', Communication from the Commission "An energy policy for Europe", Action Plan for "Energy Efficiency: Realizing the Potential" for the period 2007-2009 etc.). The main problem is that the majority of these documents have political but not legal character. They have only guidelines for the Member States that are still allowed to pursue their own national energy policy. I understand that it is a matter of security of every country but some states (energy suppliers) can use this situation to achieve their pragmatic goals. So, the EU has to create legal framework in order to ensure its energy security and to create effective common energy policy!
3. Strong military defense policy: the Maastricht Treaty established also legal framework for the creation of the EU common army or "common defence", as it is written in the Treaty. Amsterdam Treaty developed this provision. Article J.7.2 of the Amsterdam Treaty states "Questions referred to in this article (art. concerning common foreign and security policy - A.C.) shall include humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping tasks, and combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking". Still, the EU does not have its own common defense forces and in fact, NATO remains main guarantor for the EU military security and collective defense of the EU (although not all EU members have full NATO membership).
There is also one more tendency that can characterize the EU as a global player. If the EU wants to solve some problem, it creates institution what means legal framework to deal with this issue. Unfortunately, it isn't always successful because very often institution means more bureaucracy; usually the problem needs more investment (money!). The EU wants to become a military actor, but the spending for defense policy is too little (especially, if we compare it with US military expenditure). The recent example, the EU proposed new strategy towards six states "Eastern Partnership" but not additional finding is available for these countries. All finding were already available in framework of the ENP. So, as we can see, new policy - no additional money! We can find many examples...
If the EU wants to become a global player, all these questions/problems should be solved a soon as possible. It is only my opinion, I was trying to bring some arguments, and I know that they are not unique but I really want to see the EU as a strong international actor because this unique union of states is defending democratic values! The EU must be strong in order to defense these values and itself in a case of attack. I know that somebody can argue that the weakness of the EU is its strength at the same time. It is quite true but in our real world with Realpolitik it is too dangerous to be soft power.