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Security and defence

The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is an integral part of EU foreign policy. Through its military operations and civilian missions, the EU has contributed to regional and global stability. Since it's inception, the CSDP has responded to a shifting regional security context. It has played a vital role in crisis management in the EU's near and wider neighbourhood but it is also an essential part of the EU's broader approach to the protection of Europe and capacity building.

Although the Lisbon Treaty consolidated the EU's crisis management apparatus, the EU Global Strategy has set a new level of ambition for EU defence. In addition to the CSDP playing an operational role in the EU's integrated approach to crises, the EU Global Strategy has stressed the need for the EU to become a more capable and effective defence actor. Initiatives such as the European Defence Fund, the coordinated annual defence review (CARD) and more coherent financing for EU operations and capacity building efforts are all aimed at supporting the EU's strategic autonomy and the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base. The EUISS continues to support the development of CSDP through outreach activities and expert publications.

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    18October 2013
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    Civil wars: a very short introduction

    As the conflict in Syria rages on, this brief provides a succinct analysis of the causes and consequences of the longest, and bloodiest, of all forms of human conflict. Why do civil wars break out? And more importantly, how can they be brought to an end?

  • 19September 2013
    CSDP between internal constraints and external challenges: the road ahead

    The EUISS, in collaboration with King´s College London, organised a conference in London on 19 and 20 September in order to develop a series of practical proposals on CSDP leading up to the December 2013 European Council.

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    13September 2013
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    Partnering in crisis management: ten years of EU-UN cooperation

    A decade after the UN and the EU signed a Joint Declaration on UN-EU Cooperation in Crisis Management, this brief examines the achievements and obstacles faced by the two organisations in this field. With the December 2013 European Council on defence looming, what opportunities exist to further enhance this partnership?

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    13September 2013
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    The added value of CSDP operations

    For the EU to continue to attract civilian and military contributions from member states it needs to show its comparative advantage over other actors in bringing about lasting peace and security. This brief explores the question of the ‘added value’ of the CSDP compared to NATO and UN as well as to other EU instruments deployed in response to crises.

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    13September 2013
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    Setting the stage for the defence summit

    This alert examines the role of the EU as a security provider in the light of recommendations contained in a report issued by HR/VP Catherine Ashton in the run-up to the European Council in December. The report underlines the need to enhance the CSDP with credible defence capabilities.

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    11September 2013
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    Drones for Europe

    The unmanned revolution in military affairs is reshaping global power and the conduct of warfare. This brief highlights the implications of drone adoption for the EU: from industrial base issues to force structure, from public support to the development of appropriate battle-networks.

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    26July 2013
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    Securing the future of European defence

    This alert explores the Communication ‘Towards a more competitive and efficient defence and security sector’, adopted by the European Commission on 24 July, demonstrating how it makes an important contribution to the efforts to bolster the Common Security and Defence Policy.

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    08July 2013
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    Afghanistan: enter 2014

    As the twelfth year of military engagement in Afghanistan draws to a close, NATO troop numbers are set to be significantly reduced and reoriented to training Afghan forces rather than carrying out executive security functions. But how will international actors (including the EU) recalibrate their approach in order to ensure stability in both Afghanistan and the wider region?

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    03June 2013
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    What is new in the ‘global war on terror’

    This alert examines President Obama’s recent speech at the National Defense University, in which he laid out the US approach to counter-terrorism and redefined the parameters of the ‘global war on terror’. But if this speech marks a new beginning, what are the possible ripple effects across the Atlantic for Europe?

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    29May 2013
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    EUISS Yearbook of European Security 2013

    The Institute’s Yearbook of European Security (YES) contains key facts, figures, chronological lists, documents and maps relating to the EU’s external security dimension. Its purpose is to present a comprehensive picture of what the EU has achieved in the security policy domain during the preceding year/s. The inaugural edition covers 2011 and 2012, and includes a mapping section on foresight practices and trends in governments.

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    01October 2007
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    Pioneering foreign policy: the EU Special Representatives

    Over the last ten years, the EU Special Representatives (EUSRs) have pioneered EU foreign policy in countries and regions of direct interest to the Union. EUSRs are a face of the Union, enhancing its visibility, and they give it a voice, seeking to deliver a single message to local and international partners, playing an important role in EU foreign policy.

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    01September 2007
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    Seeing blue: American visions of the European Union

    For six decades the United States has supported European integration, yet many Americans have an ambivalent attitude towards the European Union. Some Americans see the EU as the culmination of historic efforts to ensure peace, stability and democracy on the continent, while others consider the Union an elaborate scheme to create a rival to US hegemony. Still others dismiss the EU as irrelevant.

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    01July 2007
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    A European centre of excellence in tune with the world

    The new EUISS Director, Álvaro de Vasconcelos, outlines his vision for the Institute and its role in shaping EU foreign policy in this edition of the Intitute's newsletter 'ISSues'. Other articles include missile defence and gender mainstreaming.

  • 01July 2007
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    The potential unintended consequences of missile defence in Europe

    Missile defence in Europe is currently a hotly debated topic in international security. It has animated discussions and raised issues at multiple levels, including ramifications for international relations (e.g. between the US and Russia), intra-EU relations (e.g. concerning national positions), and institutional relations (e.g. the role of NATO).

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    01July 2007
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    ESDP Newsletter No. 4

    At dawn on 23 June, after close to 36 hours of intensive talks, EU leaders adopted a mandate for a Reform Treaty. In the field of foreign and security policy, the text foresees the EU should have, as of 2009, a High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy. He will be supported by a European external action service. Another important innovation is the permanent structured co-operation in the field of defence.

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    01May 2007
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    Gender mainstreaming in ESDP missions

    In 2000 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325, Women, Peace and Security, which calls for ‘gender mainstreaming’. International organisations, governments and national militaries have become increasingly aware of the unintended gendered side-effects of peacekeeping operations, including incidents of prostitution, trafficking in women and the exploitation of local women and men in post-conflict societies.

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    01March 2007
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    EU security and defence — Core documents 2006 — Volume VII

    The civil war in Iraq, the nuclear issue in Iran, the war in Lebanon, the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock, the energy, Darfur, the disintegration of Somalia, tensions between Georgia and Russia: all these events have increased instability in the EU’s neighborhood in 2006, both to the east and to the south.

  • 01March 2007
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    Why EU strategy is relevant today

    The European Union has considerably extended its sphere of activity and its strategic responsibilities since ESDP was launched in 1999. European mobilisation is no longer restricted to tackling crises in the Balkans. The Union is being increasingly called upon to intervene as a stabilising force in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. But why has there been such an expansion at the international level when, on the home front, the European institutional and political dynamic has been blocked for the past two years? And what are the prospects for the future?

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    01February 2007
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    Enter the EU Battlegroups

    This Chaillot Paper aims to give readers an overview of the EU Battlegroups and their prospective evolution. The study addresses four main questions: (i) the process leading to the creation of the EU Battlegroups; (ii) the main elements covered by the EU BG Concept; (iii) the principal challenges and prospects facing the EU Battlegroups; and (iv) how the EU Battlegroups are likely to evolve over the next few years.

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    01January 2007
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    Monitoring a region in crisis: the European Union in West Africa

    The five West African countries that constitute the Mano River Basin have attracted significant international and regional attention and preoccupation over the last fifteen years. Over the years, a series of agreements has established trade and development aid partnership links between the European Union and the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) group of states.

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