The international environment in which France must operate has evolved significantly in past years. Technological and economic developments, the increased pace of trade and the emergence of new powers, new threats and new players all form part of a globalised world. It is difficult for a medium-size power to exercise any real influence on an increasingly complex international community alone. For France, therefore, acting under the framework of the European Union has become a fundamental principle of its foreign policy in the areas of peacekeeping, compliance with international law and multilateral cooperation.