The European Union is almost unanimously regarded as a new – sometimes even a post-modern – type of international organization. The concept of the post-modern state is connected with the idea of governance at several levels. One can only understand the true meaning of the European Union if it is perceived as an organic part of a few integration processes taking place in the Western world.

But the EU is not the only Western integration organization – there is also NATO. Integration of EU and NATO was managed essentially by the same people from the very beginning. In spite of a certain organisational overlap between the Union and the Alliance, a functional division of labour is in place. The European Union, if looked at in isolation, may seem to be a new type of international organisation. Nevertheless, foreign and security policy of the Union indicates a classic role of powers and interconnections with the traditional military-political organisation. This paper discusses the nature of these two organizations and analyses whether their interaction is in the form of competition, cooperation or conjunction. Finally the issue of the impact of this interaction on the individual states is discussed.