Security and defence

Each year the Core Documents series provides the Institute’s readers with as inclusive a reference work as possible on the EU’s decisions and actions in the field of security and defence. 2009 marked not only the tenth anniversary of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESPD), but also the beginning of a new era with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, creating a new impetus for the external action of the EU.

The EU's military planning capacity is in need of a major overhaul. The lack of a permanent operational planning headquarters undermines peacekeeping performance, and more broadly, the development of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). This Occasional Paper seeks to reconcile the need to address existing deficiencies in military planning and command and control with the general resistance to a permanent military operational headquarters.

Revised in light of the Irish Lisbon Treaty referendum results, this second edition seeks to define Europe’s long-term security and defence ambitions, concluding with a ten-point ‘roadmap to 2020’ based on the premise that the European Union needs to build both a robust civilian and military capacity on the foundations of what has already been achieved.

This book breaks new ground by providing the first comprehensive review of every ESDP operation to date. It explains how the EU institutions responsible for international crisis management have developed and functioned, reviews the civil and military resources available to the ESDP, and analyses the key partnerships between the EU and other international organisations.