INTRODUCTION "Foreign policy can mean several things, not only foreign policy in the narrow sense. It can cover foreign policy, relations with the developing world, and enlargement as well. - Romano Prodi The European Union is a phenomenon of the present on the European continent. The common EU policies affect everyday events in the member states. Furthermore, the EU is the biggest trading power and the largest donor humanitarian and development aid. If we talk about EU foreign policy, it is a part of the foreign policies of the Member States, external relations of the Union institutions, as well as jointly agreed implemented policies and foreign policy measures and activities of the member states within Common Foreign and Security Policy. The EU as a foreign policy actor possess some properties which are essential and dominant in the discussions regarding the EU as an actor on the international stage. In this essay we would like to focus on the issue of the EU as a foreign policy actor. Our main goal is point out the strengths and weaknesses of the EU as a foreign policy actor. This essay will be divided into several parts dealing with the individual characteristic of EU foreign policy which capture it most. The essay will built around various arguments of authors as Ian Manners, Karen E. Smith, Jürgen Neyer and others. In the first part, we will clarify the EU´s set of foreign policy instruments such as a diplomatic and economic means which are the primary tools of EU foreign policy. Second part will discuss about the military dimension of EU foreign policy which makes the EU a weak foreign policy player due to a lack of military power. Then we will deal with other foreign policy aspects. At the earliest, we will analyse an inefficient system of EU governance, including decision-making process. In this issue, we would like to explain why is seems to be inefficient and ineffective. Afterwards, a very urgent problem of democratic deficit of EU will be examined in the next part. Lastly, we will discuss about EU enlargement policy which demonstrates the ability of the EU to move its boundaries without using military means. EU as a civilian and normative power What makes the EU a civilian power? First notion of civilian power Europe introduced in the 1970s Duchêne. According to Duchêne (1973, p. 19), the European Community was a „civilian group of countries long on economic power and relatively short on armed force“. Later the definition of civilian power Europe was extended and provided by Hans Maull (1990) which includes that in order to achieve the international objectives, the acceptance of cooperation based on non-military, primarily economic means was required. In this case the EU uses its diplomacy and economic strength in pursuing international objectives and to influence other actors in international relations.(Smith, 2000) Then „emphasizing the meaning of diplomacy and economic means makes the EU a civilian power“. (Keisala, 2004, p. 155) The EU´s civilian power promotes democracy, regional cooperation, respect for human rights and a market economy. These values strengthen the international community and so strengthen also the EU ´s international position. Thus, the EU constructs its identity based on the dominant values of the international system. This „civilian“ aspect of foreign policy of the EU manifests in terms of the EU as the largest and most significant donor of development aid in the world, the strongest supporter of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Doha Development Agenda and a global promoter against the death penalty. (Krohn, 2009) In addition, the EU is also a normative power. For understanding of EU´s normative power, it is important to understand the characteristics of its international identity, its hybrid polity and its legal constitution. Manners (2002, p. 253) offers us a definition of a normative power: “the ability to define what passes for “normal” in world politics is, ultimately, the greatest power of all.” It is possible to identify five key norms - peace, liberty, democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and four minor norms of the normative basis of the EU - the social solidarity, anti-discrimination, sustainable development and the principle of good governance. (Manners, 2002) The definition of these norms, values and standards underline the normative aspect of EU foreign policy. A good instance of how normative way reflected in EU foreign policy is the EU´s involvement in creating the International Criminal Court (ICC). The U. S. tried this Court for prosecuting individual perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity to join the UN Security Council in order to exercise its veto power, whilst the EU called for a strong, independent and autonomous court with clear jurisdiction over the mentioned crimes. Because of the most of non-EU countries shared the same position, the E