Abstract

MENDES, Pedro Emanuel. Portugal as an ecumenical pivot state of the European Union: the case of international summits under Portuguese presidencies. Relações Internacionais [online]. 2020, n.68, pp.59-76.  Epub Dec 31, 2020. ISSN 1645-9199.  https://doi.org/10.23906/ri2020.68a05.

This article develops an analysis of the impact of the historical ecumenical pattern of portuguese foreign policy on the European Union’s external relations. Its main objective is to identify Portugal’s influence on developing the European Union’s (EU) external relations, namely the holding of international summits in the framework of the portuguese EU presidencies. The article is structured in two main parts. First, the article theorises Portugal’s role as a Pivot State in the EU’s external relations, underlining Portugal’s current foreign policy’s identity and normative characteristics. Secondly, the article presents an analysis of Portugal’s role in the organisation of international summits. Its central argument concerns the explanation of Portugal’s contribution to the EU in terms of European foreign policy, namely in the sophistication of the EU’s external relations and its international image.

Keywords : Portuguese foreign policy; ecumenical Pivot State; EU external relations; EU international summits.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )