Diversified in unity: the agenda for the geopolitical European Commission

The idea of the “geopolitical European Commission”, as put forward by President Ursula von der Leyen, raises fundamental questions about the future direction of this international bureaucracy and the impact of current political choices on its international authority. As we are yet to learn the exact nature and scope of the Commission’s “geopolitical turn”, this paper argues that the European Union’s most unique institution risks undermining its own core strengths, which lay in a problem-driven, nominally depoliticized and human development-oriented approach to international security. There are established principles guiding the Commission’s approach to security, well-defined methods and even distinct policy instruments, which have allowed this institution to advance its unique identity and authority as a provider of security assistance. As such, the European Union should embrace the principle of diversity (of the Union’s approaches to security) in unity, represented by the Union’s shared overarching vision.