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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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  • 02October 2017
    Hybrid threats and the EU - State of play and future progress

    On 2 October 2017, the EUISS and the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU organised a high-level conference on hybrid threats. During three panels focusing on the current state of play, cyber resilience and strategic communications, the conference encouraged debate about the efforts made by the EU to counter hybrid threats.

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    27September 2017
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    The cybridisation of EU defence

    This Alert explains the importance of the defence dimensions of Europe's cyber security efforts. In addition to exercises and training, the Union is now increasingly in a position to financially invest in cyber defence.

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    05July 2017
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    EUPOL Afghanistan 2007/16: Mission Impossible?

    This Brief presents an overview of the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL Afghanistan) – analysing the difficulties and challenges that the Mission faced from the time it was launched in 2007 until its closure in 2016. The Brief also identifies several ‘lessons learned’ that could be of benefit to future missions of this type.

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    07June 2017
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    MPCC: towards an EU military command?

    This Brief looks at the new ‘military planning and conduct capability’ (MPCC) structure. How did this come into existence? And what does it mean for the EU in terms of command structure?

  • 30May 2017
    The EUGS one year on: Challenges to European security – and EU responses

    This EUISS event launched two new EUISS publications at the one-year mark of the issuance of the EU Global Strategy. With the EUISS ‘Yearbook of European Security’ as the go-to source for facts and figures relevant to the EU and its external action, and ‘After the EUGS: building resilience’ as the third in the series of the EUISS books devoted to the EU Global Strategy and its implementation.

  • 19May 2017
    Security Sector Reform in the Southern Neighbourhood

    The seminar discussed a more tailored approach to Security Sector Reform (SSR) in the EU’s South, looking at challenges in the fields of criminal justice, policing, border control, and counter-terrorism.

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    17May 2017
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    EUISS Yearbook of European Security 2017

    The EUISS Yearbook of European Security (YES) is the Institute’s annual publication compiling key documents and data related to the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). This 2017 edition offers a comprehensive picture of the actors, institutions and processes that underpinned the Union’s foreign and security policy and external action in 2016.

  • 27April 2017
    Shared vision, common action, stronger Europe: Is the implementation of the EU Global Strategy meeting expectations?

    The EUISS and the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU organised a high-level conference on the EU Global Strategy (EUGS). Following a panel focusing on how the EUGS has driven the EU’s and member states’ foreign policy since June 2016, the conference encouraged debate on the security and defence aspects of the EUGS and the EU’s crisis management strategy for Libya.

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    26April 2017
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    Funding EU defence cooperation

    Through carefully targeted financial incentives the European Commission hopes that the European Defence Fund can help change the rules of the game for European defence cooperation. But how might the Commission structure or modulate it?

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    26April 2017
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    The CARD on the EU defence table

    This Alert looks at the coordinated annual review on defence (‘CARD’) announced at the end of 2016. How could CARD change the way defence cooperation operates in Europe?

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    22July 2016
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    After the EUGS: specifying the military tasks

    This Alert looks at the indications in the EUGS on the way the military instrument(s) at the EU’s disposal should be used, further developed (in a cooperative manner) and connected to other internal and external actors.

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    01July 2016
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    Euro 2016 – teaming up for security

    With the UEFA European Championship 2016 having kicked off in France last month, this Alert looks at the unprecedented collaborative efforts of France and its international partners to combat the terrorist threat facing the tournament.

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    01July 2016
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    Civilian crisis management: towards a new paradigm

    What developments in and around Europe have challenged the conceptual and practical boundaries of EU civilian crisis management (CCM)? And what are the implications of the increasing involvement of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) agencies?

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    29June 2016
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    A Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign And Security Policy

    The strategy, under the title Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe, has been elaborated under the leadership of the High Representative. It reflects the collective views expressed in the process and offers a strategic vision for the EU’s global role. In these challenging times, both for Europe and globally, the strategy highlights common ground and presents a common way forward.

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    26May 2016
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    US forces – between Europe and Asia

    Recent developments to the east and south of Europe have pushed European defence back onto the agenda in Washington. What steps has the US taken to guarantee the security of its transatlantic allies? And are they enough?

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    19April 2016
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    EUISS Yearbook of European Security 2016

    The EUISS Yearbook of European Security (YES) 2016 is the Institute’s annual publication compiling key documents and data related to the EU’s external action for the year 2015. YES is an indispensable publication that aims to inform experts, academics, practitioners and, more generally, all those wishing to know more about the EU and security-related matters through the showcasing of crucial facts and figures.

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    13April 2016
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    Envisioning European defence – Five futures

    This Chaillot Paper – a collective endeavour on which the five authors have collaborated – outlines five possible future scenarios for European defence. The aim is to develop plausible and coherent descriptions of what European defence might look like a decade or two from now in order to point out the choices and decisions that need to be made today.

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    08April 2016
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    Tackling the challenges of SSR

    While the EU is drafting a new strategic framework for Security Sector Reform (SSR), this Alert examines the main challenges that the EU faces in this field.

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    01April 2016
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    A new PLA for a new era

    China’s army-centric military structure – based on a 1950’s Soviet model – had long mismatched the country’s status as world’s second largest economy. This Alert looks at how the push for military reforms reflects Beijing’s changing domestic and regional priorities.

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    15March 2016
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    European defence spending 2015: the force awakens

    In response to the worsening security environment, cuts to European defence budgets are finally being reversed. In this Brief, defence spending data from 2015 are spliced by region and by category to show how the calculus is changing in defence ministries across Europe.

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  • 05July 2016
    Reshaping EU Civilian Crisis Management

    On 5 July, the EUISS launched its project on ‘Reshaping EU Civilian Crisis Management’ in Brussels.

  • 30May 2016
    4th Module of the ESDC High-Level Course

    From 30 May to 3 June 2016, the EUISS supported the 4th Module of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) High-Level Course organised in Berlin by the Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik (BAKS).

  • 25May 2016
    Washington Forum 2016

    The 2016 EUISS Washington Forum took place on 25 May and was hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP).

  • 24May 2016
    Arab defence industries: implications for the United States and Europe

    Two EUISS Senior Analysts were hosted by the Atlantic Council in the US capital to discuss developments in defence industries in the Middle East.

  • 17May 2016
    The future of European defence

    On 17 May 2016, the EUISS hosted a launch event for the recently published Chaillot Paper ‘Envisioning European defence: five futures’. This launch event provided a forum for analysts, policymakers and interested stakeholders alike to better understand how the choices of today will impact the European defence of tomorrow.

  • 06April 2016
    The EU and NATO in a more contested world: enabling a genuine strategic partnership

    As part of the series of expert seminars supporting the drafting of the EU Global Strategy, the EUISS and PISM co-organised the seminar 'The EU and NATO in a more contested world: enabling a genuine strategic partnership' in Warsaw on 6 April 2016.

  • 18March 2016
    Expert seminar on SSR

    On 18 March 2016, the EUISS coorganised a closed seminar on the forthcoming EU-wide Strategic Framework for Security Sector Reform (SSR), which is to be released by mid-2016.

  • 11March 2016
    Europe’s security and defence: what next?

    This seminar, jointly organised by the EUISS, the Dutch Embassy in Paris and the French and Dutch Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence, aimed at stimulating dialogue about the changing nature and increasing importance of national and supranational security policy in Europe.

  • 25February 2016
    ESDC alumni seminar

    This seminar was co-organised by the EUISS, the European Security and Defence College (ESDC), the Egmont Institute, and the Netherlands Presidency of the Council of the EU.

  • 02July 2015
    Learning and training for EU CSDP

    On 2-3 July 2015, the EUISS and the European Security and Defence College (ESDC), with the support of the European Parliament and the Luxembourg Presidency of the EU, organised an expert seminar on learning and training.

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