Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 10/2011

The European Union and the Reform of the UN Security Council: Toward a New Regionalism?

Nicoletta Pirozzi, Natalino Ronzitti

May 2011

Istituto Affari Internazionali

Abstract

The United Nations (UN) is a central reference for the performance of the European Union (EU) on the international stage and one of the most interesting platforms to test the effectiveness of the innovations introduced by the Lisbon Treaty in its foreign and security policies. In particular, the EU’s contribution to the reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC) represents a crucial policy and institutional input to assess the Union’s capability to act. The new Treaty could allow the EU to play a more assertive role at the SC and pave the way for a new regionalism within the United Nations.