A Study Of European Communities' Foreign Policy Co-operation

This thesis discusses European Communities (EC)' foreign policy on Middle East Oil Crisis in 1973 on the international background of cold war in the 1970s. Through the historical exploration on this typical case, the thesis attempts to probe into the internal and external factors impacting the beginning of European Political Co-operation (EPC), reveal the features of EC' s co-operation in the new international political and economic situation and make the evaluation on EC' s diplomatic initiative.European Communities' foreign policy co-operation during Oil Crisis in 1973 was the first practice for EC to form the common diplomatic attitude after the establishment of EPC. This process contained how the member counties came to reach the common reaction to Middle East problem, how EC' s co-operation conflicted with the US Middle East policy and how the two sides made the compromise with each other finally. The process elucidates that below:1. Safeguarding EC' s regional interest and the member counties' national interests were the main motivities of EC who succeeded to form the common standpoint to Middle East Crisis on the changing international political and economic background in the 1970s.2. The member counties' different national aims and their different reactions to the US policy were the crucial reasons why the self-independence shown by EC tended not to be a true one under the EPC system which was pragmatic, loose and fragile.Basing on the historical analysis, this thesis further demonstrates the salience of EC' s foreign policy co-operation in this typical period:1. EC' s foreign policy co-operation in the 1970s is not a common policy, but an intergovernmental coordination .2. The substruction of EC' s foreign policy co-operation lies in its economic integration that has been developing since the 1950s.3. EC' s foreign policy co-operation which still has much potential to develop is the primary phase on the course of EC's political unification.To sum up, EC' s foreign policy co-operation has become the first important step of European political unification. It influences straightly the future development of European political integration.