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This chapter describes how the European Political Co-operation (EPC), the foreign policy arm of the European Community (EC), is organized and what it does today. For the first 17 years of its existence, EPC had no legal or formal standing. It is based on a private agreement among Foreign Ministers to organize regular meetings and follow certain conventions. EPC officials are included in the meetings of the European Council, which allows them to establish relationships with foreign ministers and other high-ranking state officials. Since political co-operation is an inter-governmental activity, the EPC has its own management functions, which are different from those of the EC.

This chapter discusses the accomplishments and challenges faced by the European Political Co-operation (EPC) from 1973 to 1977. The EPC reached its first high in July 1973 when the Copenhagen Report was approved and the Danish Foreign Minister opened the Ministerial phase of the Helsinki Conference on behalf of the Nine. But after that, the EPC found itself with no clear future agenda and facing the challenge of defining its relationship with the U.S. in response to the ‘Year of Europe’ initiative by Henry Kissinger. The October War further elevated tensions with the U.S. but the EPC continued to make decisive input into the Commission on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) and in July 1975 the Final Act of Helsinki was signed. During this period, the EPC's scope began to widen and it was no longer confined to the CSCE and the Middle East.

This chapter discusses Member States' use of the inter-governmental machinery of the European Political Co-operation (EPC) for areas of co-operation other than foreign policy. These include judicial co-operation and co-operation on anti-terrorism and national security. The judicial co-operation brings together representatives of the Ministries of Justice of Member States with the objective of moving towards a single European judicial area. The co-operation among security authorities and police takes place in a separate framework called the Trevi. For anti-terrorism initiatives, the EPC has its own Working Group on Terrorism.

This introductory chapter discusses the coverage of the book, which is about the development of the European Political Co-operation (EPC). EPC is the foreign policy arm of the European Community (EC) and the process by which Member States co-ordinate their foreign policies. It was introduced in 1970 as a way to achieve economic and foreign policy identity among Member States and to avoid institutional conflicts that had thwarted earlier attempts to create unified economic and foreign policies. Since its founding, the EPC has grown in significance both for the institutional development of the EC and for its impact on international events.

This chapter discusses the origins of the European Political Co-operation (EPC), the foreign policy arm of the European Community (EC). The EPC did not develop solely out the Davignon Report of 1970. It originated from several attempts to develop a political authority that would be responsible for foreign policy issues in Western Europe. Thus, its structure and approach reflect twenty-five years of debate about the desirability of such a political body in the region. Though the EPC has focused on practical matters since 1970, the debate between federalism and inter-governmentalism is still very much alive.

This chapter discusses the formative years of the European Political Co-operation (EPC) from 1970 to 1973. The directives issued by the 1969 Hague Summit were carried out within the year and the Luxembourg Report of 1970 established the ground rules for the EPC. The first ministerial meeting was held in November 1970 and the EPC was tested by the issues concerning the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Middle East. Foreign ministers of Member States readily accepted the EPC and within three years substantial progress had been made both in policy and in developing procedures which would enable it to produce a second report. The second report was the Copenhagen Report of July 1973, which consolidated the achievements of the EPC.

This chapter discusses the maturation of the European Political Co-operation (EPC) during the period from 1978–1981. It is widely held that after 1977 the EPC had reached a plateau and for two years it became little more than a forum for the exchange of diplomatic information. The EPC was shaken out of its complacency by the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan and its failure to deal with the crisis. This led the EPC to rethink its working methods, which resulted in the Venice Declaration of 1980 and the formulation of policies for the Afghanistan issue. After both initiatives failed, the EPC strengthened its working methods by adopting the London Report and launching the movement which would lead to the Stuttgart Solemn Declaration.

This chapter discusses the activities of the European Political Co-operation (EPC) during the period from 1982 to 1986. After the adoption of the London Report in 1981, the EPC established a Secretariat and ended the restrictions on its full association with the European Commission (EC). During the following years, there was an increasing unease in Europe, particularly on the issue of East—West relations, and this left the EPC torn between supporting its ally and maintaining the policies it believed to be right. This was further complicated by the Solemn Declaration of Stuttgart initiated by Federal German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and his Italian counterpart Emilio Colombo. But the EPC was able to effectively deal with these issues with the assistance provided by the EC.

This chapter discusses the codification of the European Political Co-operation with the Single European Act, which came into effect on July 1, 1987. Since 1970, the EPC had no legal basis and the codification gave it a personality in international law. At became associated with the legal and institutional order in the European Community. The movement towards codification was started as early as June 1979 in the European Parliament by Altiero Spinelli, a lifelong federalist who aimed to secure for his vision of a European Union a broad measure of parliamentary support that would transcend party and national divisions.

This chapter discusses the interaction between the European Political Co-operation (EPC) and the European Community (EC). One of the best examples of the use of Community instruments to pursue EPC policies is the application of sanctions. The decision to impose sanctions is taken as a political judgment issue at EPC and the corresponding measure is then adopted by the Community. The EPC is dependent on the Community for its financial needs, having no budget of its own, and the pooling of Member States has proved to be ineffective. The process of rapprochement of the EPC and the Community was temporarily halted in 1984 by the affair concerning the precursors of chemical weapons and was resumed with the launch of the EC-COMECON.

This chapter discusses the perception that the European Political Co-operation (EPC) is introspective. Members States were often seen as being more intent on reaching a common position from the starting point of divergent national positions rather than projecting the common position once it has been reached. This may be attributed to the absence of a permanent spokesperson who will convey EPC positions and policies to third countries. To address issues concerning third countries, the EPC invented whatever procedures seemed most appropriate as each case arose, in the first instance with Turkey and the U.S. This ad hoc approach continued until a hierarchy of formulas for dialogues was introduced.

This chapter evaluates the survival chances of the European Political Co-operation (EPC). Optimists believe that the EPC Members States have already developed common positions on a wide range of issues based on shared information and that these have a cumulative effect on world affairs. The pessimists who criticize the EPC should be reminded that the EPC has already made significant contributions to the development of a common foreign policy, and it has also introduced a new dimension into the national foreign policy-making process, which no Foreign Ministry of Member States can ignore any longer.