As part of the UK House of Lords EU External Affairs Sub-Committee's strategic review of EU policy, Adam Fagan, Professor at Queen Mary University of London, had been invited to provide evidence on EU policy in the Western Balkans. The evidence which he gave on 5 November 2015 has now been included in the House of Lords European Union Committee's report "Europe in the world: Towards a more effective EU foreign and security strategy", which was published yesterday, on 16 February.

In June 2015, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, presented an assessment of the global security environment to the European Council. The European Council asked the High Representative to "continue the process of strategic reflection with a view to preparing an EU global strategy on foreign and security policy in close cooperation with Member States, to be submitted to the European Council by June 2016". The UK House of Lords EU External Affairs Sub-Committee thus undertook a strategic review of EU policy in order to contribute to the process of developing the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy.