In a shifting
geopolitical environment, where the European Union’s (EU’s) demographic and
economic importance is declining and uncertainties are rife, one thing is
clear: the EU needs to be effective in its external action to co-shape the
international order, acting coherently and sustainably. It follows that
policymakers and academics providing analysis and advice need a clear
understanding of what effective, coherent and sustainable EU external action
actually is. This article draws on primary and secondary sources, including EU
strategic documents and communications, as well as academic and think tank
literature, to unpack these concepts. We find that EU policy documents only
vaguely define effectiveness, coherence and sustainability, and use these
concepts in a variety of ways in relation to external action, with little
clarity and consistency across the board. In academic literature, discussions
have been extensive when it comes to the concepts of coherence and
effectiveness, but less so for sustainability. In addition, many of the
scholarly conceptual debates took place years ago, when the EU and its external
environment looked different from today. Based on this review, the article
proposes clear definitions of effective, coherent, and sustainable EU external
action, along with illustrations of their application to the different domains
of the EU’s external action. The article furthermore reflects critically on the
application of these concepts given recent developments in the EU’s external
environment, in particular since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and
the second inauguration of Donald Trump as US president.