Abstract
In the first part of the book the European Union was analysed as an international actor who conducts its characteristic foreign policy. The focus was on the Mediterranean and on the European initiatives in this region that were supposed to lead to creation of zone of peace, stability, and prosperity.
However, when the Arab spring broke out, the limits of these concepts were revealed. As a result there is a need to newly define content of the European foreign policy which is currently concentrated only on short-term economic gains and realistic objectives due to the ongoing economic crisis.
The foreign policy is not defined by the European Union but by its member states that consider the EU as an instrument for collective defense of economic interests in the context of global economy. Also it serves as an instrument for milieu shaping and finally the foreign policy is used by the member states to enhance their influence and prestige as it was analysed in the second part.
The analysis of the Euro-Mediterranean relations has showed that the foreign policy of the EU has become ineffective and less credible. The following comparison of Spain and France did not have the objective to state which state should be responsible for this failure because the European foreign policy represents a colective dimension.