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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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    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.

  • 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.

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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.

  • 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.

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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.

  • 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.

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    04March 2016
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    For EU eyes only? Intelligence and European security

    Intelligence support for the EU’s foreign and security policy has developed from being a small cubicle within Javier Solana’s office into dedicated all-source intelligence units. But what challenges still exist in European intelligence cooperation, and what can be done to bolster it further?

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    26February 2016
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    Global defence spending 2015: the big picture

    2015 saw Russia, Saudi Arabia and China invest heavily in their militaries, while Europeans have largely reversed long-standing defence budget cuts, too. Increases in defence spending have, however, had very different implications for the military activities of the respective regional powers.

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    11July 2014
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    Article 346 and the qualified application of EU law to defence

    EU member states have long avoided applying EU law to defence by extensively relying – implicitly or explicitly – on Article 346. Using recent case law, this Brief shows how this is now becoming increasingly difficult.

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    04July 2014
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    The three effects of dual-use: firms, capabilities, and governance

    This Brief examines the increasing importance of dual-use technologies and their impact on the structure of defence firms in Europe. How is this phenomenon now affecting the capabilities – and the governance – of European defence?

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    23May 2014
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    EUISS Yearbook of European Security 2014

    The EUISS Yearbook of European Security (YES) 2014 is the Institute’s annual publication compiling key documents and data related to the EU’s CFSP and CSDP for the year 2013. The 2014 edition also includes chapters on new actors in the Arab political landscape post-2011 as well as on the evolution of defence spending across Europe. Visually appealing maps, graphs and charts provide added clarity on some of the key issues facing the European Union and its external action today.

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    16May 2014
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    Breaking new ground: EU-US cooperation in crisis management

    With EU and US cooperation in crisis management going from strength to strength – particularly on the African continent – this Brief provides an overview of the successes to date, and displays how the evolution of the Union’s CSDP is allowing for a stronger transatlantic partnership in the realm of international security.

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    16April 2014
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    One size to fit all? Setting standards for European defence

    At present, the European defence market is fragmented and characterised by a plethora of national standards. But with the need for defence standardisation becoming increasingly critical in an era marked by declining defence expenditure, what steps can be taken to ensure success?

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    09April 2014
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    Defence matters – EU key documents 2013

    An essential point of reference for all those who work in the field of CSDP, this compendium collects the official documents generated by all EU institutional actors in preparation of the ‘defence summit’ of 19/20 December 2013 and the Conclusions adopted by the EU heads of state and government at the end of the process.

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    21March 2014
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    No TTIP-ing point for European defence?

    Although the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will not directly cover to the defence sector, dual-use goods and technologies are increasingly blurring the lines between defence and civilian commercial realms. What impact will the TTIP have on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that operate in the European defence sector, and what of the future of the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base?

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    07March 2014
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    CSDP: getting third states on board

    Presented in the context of a broader CFSP agenda, this Brief provides an overview of the valuable contributions and political support by partner countries to CSDP missions to date. How can this process now be best employed to bolster the overall legitimacy of the EU’s international security role?

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    07March 2014
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    Defence budgets: Europe's Maginot moment?

    As EU member states try to juggle decreasing budgets and increasing costs in the face of an ever more unstable neighbourhood, is Europe trying to maintain its defences by cutting everything that makes them viable? This Brief suggests a few answers by looking at some of the latest data available on defence.

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    24January 2014
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    EUFOR RCA Bangui: 'defence matters'

    With the decision to launch EUFOR RCA Bangui, EU member states appear to be displaying a willingness to inject new momentum into crisis management in sub-Saharan Africa. But how likely is it that the situation in the CAR will be sufficiently stable in six months to allow the EU to declare victory and hand over to AU forces or the UN?

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  • 01May 2005
    The EU and the NPT 2005 Review Conference

    Convened at the request of the HR’s Personal Representative for the non-proliferation of WMD, Annalisa Giannella, the seminar examined the main challenges for the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference and explored possible ways to reach a common EU position.

  • 22April 2005
    Islam in Europe and US security

    The EUISS co-sponsored a Conference on Democracy and Global Islam organised by the Center on Institutions and Governance based at UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies. The conference was the first of its kind to discuss the impact of globalising Islam on Europe's growing Muslim population with regard to US security.

  • 07April 2005
    The EU's Security Agenda and the Western Balkans

    This seminar was organised by the G17 Institute with the assistance of EUISS in Belgrade and sought to introduce Serbian and Montenegrin policy makers, academic experts and journalists to the European Security and Defence Policy and the EU’s Security Strategy.

  • 07March 2005
    The ESDP contribution to the fight against terrorism

    On 7 March 2005, the EUISS organised a seminar in collaboration with the Luxembourg Presidency and the Council of the European Union in order to identify potential ESDP contributions to the fight against terrorism.

  • 21January 2005
    Towards a European Defence Equipment Market — The Green Paper on Defence Procurement

    Given the importance the recent Green Paper on Defence Procurement, the Institute invited representatives of the EC, the European Defence Agency, member states, industry and academics to discuss the various options available to improve transparency and openness of defence markets between EU member states.

  • 14October 2004
    Energy as a security challenge for the EU

    When does energy constitute a security threat for the EU? How should the EU respond to existing and potential threats to its energy security? The seminar, in cooperation with the Dutch presidency of the EU, raised these critical questions which face the European Union and its member states.

  • 17September 2004
    New security challenges and EU responses

    Taking place in Riga on 17-18 September 2004, the conference was the second event that the EUISS organised in a new member state. It was organised jointly by the EUISS and the Latvian Institute of International Affairs with the support of the Latvian Ministry of Defence.

  • 10September 2004
    2004 Annual Conference - The Union as an actor in global security

    For the third consecutive year, Javier Solana, High Representative for CFSP, opened the Institute’s Annual Conference, held in Paris on Friday, 10 September 2004.

  • 02July 2004
    Kosovo: what prospects for final status?

    The EUISS Balkans Task Force met in Paris on 2 July, 2004 to discuss the domestic constraints and possibilities in Serbia and Kosovo, and evaluate the state of play in EU policy towards the region.

  • 14May 2004
    CFSP and ESDP after enlargement

    This conference, organised jointly with the Institute of International Relations, Prague, took place soon after accession of the Czech Republic to the EU. The Prague office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation contributed to the organisation of the event, and the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the participants.

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