The EU has made human rights a major priority. It has drafted them into law and demands that all potential member states sign up to the European Convention on Human Rights. This commitment should not stop at the EU’s borders. We have the money and the expertise to make a real difference around the world, and our moral authority on human rights would be strengthened if we were willing to take a lead.

We accept that we have an obligation to help developing countries by our major aid commitments. But this is not enough. A country cannot be expected to develop when it is being ravaged by war, and in order to advance to a suitable state for development to be successful they often need external peacekeepers to intervene. As the EU already encourages its member states to give aid, it should step this up and coordinate them sending peacekeepers, so that the aid has the best chance of actually doing good.

The main components of a successful peace keeping mission are available troops and an efficient command and organisational structure. Both of these things can be provided by the EU. Its member states have some of the world’s biggest armies and most advanced economies, and some of these resources could be turned to a coordinated military effort. The EU even has a proven track record in organising a successful campaign, for example in its ant piracy mission off the Somali coast.

The fact that the UN is carrying out the role of peacekeeping doesn't mean that there shouldn't be anymore. The fact that the EU has played a vital role in both the Balkans and in the Congo is ignored, so if there wasn't room for these operations then the UN or others would be carrying them out. The importance of having a greater presence of EU peacekeeping should not be underestimated and there are plenty of regions where the role could play a greater role, in other African countries, the Middle east and South-East Asia.

There already exists a global structure for peacekeeping, the UN. This is a tested structure with a track record, but more importantly it represents the entire world and as such has authority over the whole world. The EU does not have any jurisdiction over the affairs of countries outside its borders, because these countries are not EU members and therefore have no obligation to abide by its rules.

When western troops are sent by a western body to intervene in the affairs of a developing nation it often has unpleasant associations in the minds of the people in the countries. For people with a history of being oppressed by western powers, the idea of submitting to their authority is impossible. Without the cooperation of the local people, a peacekeeping mission will never be successful because we need to create lasting solutions with the local people. Not just enforce our ideas on them.

The EU as a body has no obligations to countries outside its borders, and thus no reason to demand that its members send troops and money because it has no legitimacy to do so.