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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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    21October 2014
    Pooling and sharing that works: the Heavy Airlift Wing at five
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    As the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) programme celebrates five years of successful flight operations, this Alert provides an overview of this multinational initiative which has provided even very small European countries with a strategic transport capability that they would not have been able to achieve on their own.

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    17October 2014
    Staying ahead: the US and future technologies
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    What steps is the US taking in order to ensure that it remains technologically superior to its rivals when it comes to defence matters? Is there still a role for Europe in the race to stay ahead of the game?

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    17October 2014
    Autonomy without autarky: an EU ‘roadmap’ for security of supply
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    This Alert offers a preliminary sketch of what a Europe-wide security of supply regime could look like. Should such a regime follow an emphasis on maintaining open markets and ensuring competitiveness, or should it follow an insistence on greater protection and a ‘buy European’ ethos?

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    07October 2014
    In groups we trust – Implementing Article 44 of the Lisbon Treaty
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    This Brief explores the hitherto unimplemented provision of the Lisbon Treaty. What procedures would allow for an Article 44 operation to take place? And what can be done to assuage any concerns associated with the use of the Article?

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    03October 2014
    CSDP’s new partners: South America
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    This Alert explores the motives driving Latin American countries to institutionalise security cooperation with the EU. In spite of the asymmetric levels of engagement in CSDP missions and operations, Latin American states can reap considerable benefits from their participation through other policy channels.

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    30September 2014
    CSDP’s new partners: East Asia
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    This Alert analyses the implications of the Union’s recent formalisation of security cooperation with South Korea. Aside from obvious practical benefits, what symbolic value does it have for both partners in their attempts to gain greater recognition as security actors?

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    26September 2014
    European Security and Defence #CSDPbasics
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    This leaflet, produced for the occasion of the EUISS annual conference 2014, goes back to basics on the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Infographics and illustrations, as well as a glossary of terms and relevant actors, present facts and figures about European security – in an easily accessible manner.

  • 11September 2014
    EUISS annual conference 2014

    The EUISS held its annual conference on 11/12 September in central Paris. This year’s event, entitled ‘European security in a changing global environment’, was an opportunity to convene numerous policy planners and think tankers from across the Europe to discuss European security during a period of major institutional change within the Union.

  • 09September 2014
    YES 2014 – Version abrégée – français
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    La version abrégée du Yearbook of European Security (YES) en français propose des faits, données, chronologies, documents et cartes essentiels à la compréhension de la politique de sécurité de l’Union européenne au cours de l’année 2013.

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    18July 2014
    Exit strategies: what's in a name?
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    This Brief takes a look at the discussions surrounding ‘exit strategies’ of EU CSDP missions. However defined, work on exit strategies may begin with CSDP – but eventually draws on, and takes to task, all other connected components of EU foreign policy.

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  • 23March 2003
    El fin de la ambigüedad
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    La larga crisis sobre Irak y la guerra en curso plantean una cuestión central para los europeos: tras una división tempestuosa, ¿volverá la Unión Europea a la calma, o habrá que replantearse todo el proyecto europeo?

  • 07March 2003
    Das Ende der Vieldeutigkeit
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    Es ist eine Binsenweisheit, dass jede Krise auch Chancen in sich birgt. Ob dies im Falle der Irak-Krise auch für die Europäische Union gilt, erscheint allerdings fraglich. Welche Konsequenzen werden die Mitgliedsstaaten aus dem offenen Zerwürfnis der letzten Wochen ziehen?

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    01March 2003
    Terrorism, proliferation: a European threat assessment
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    Security thinking has undergone a significant evolution since the end of the Cold War. The scope of the subject has been extended from the nation-state to societal groups and individuals, and areas covered now include health, the environment, protection against crime and economic disruption, and culture.

  • 13February 2003
    Disunity holds the EU back from a major global role
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    Whether or not there will be a war against Iraq, the debate over war has already claimed a victim: the vision of the European Union as a global actor.

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    01February 2003
    From Laeken to Copenhagen - European defence: core documents
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    This Chaillot Paper has three parts. The first consists of documents on the development and implementation of ESDP. The second brings together significant texts and contributions to the Convention concerning CFSP and ESDP, and the third documents connected with the fight against terrorism.

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    01January 2003
    L’Union en action : la mission de police en Bosnie
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    Depuis 1999, l’Union européenne (UE) développe sa capacité globale (militaire et non militaire) de gestion des crises dans le cadre de la Politique européenne de Sécurité et de Défense (PESD). La « déclaration d’opérationnalité de la PESD », adoptée lors du Conseil de Laeken, constitue un pas important de ce développement.

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    01January 2003
    Shift or Rift: assessing US-EU relationships after Iraq
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    The idea behind this transatlantic book predates the intense transatlantic exchanges that took place prior to the war in Iraq in early 2003. The run-up to the passage of UN Resolution 1441 in November 2002 provided clear indications that Euro-American relations were about to enter previously uncharted territory.

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    01December 2002
    Iraq: a European point of view
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    UNSC Resolution 1441 has given the Iraqi regime a last opportunity to abandon any WMD programmes. If Iraq does not comply fully with the resolution or if inspections show that Iraq is indeed hiding WMD, the Security Council will have to consider the situation and decide what measures must be taken to maintain international peace and security.

  • 01December 2002
    Iraq and beyond
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    Bearing in mind that the Iraqi issue is and will remain high on the European and transatlantic agendas, the EU Institute for Security Studies has decided to examine it thoroughly through a series of publications and activities. The following texts are so far available

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    01November 2002
    Getting there: building strategic mobility into ESDP
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    The commitment to create a credible military capability for Europe lies at the heart of European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). A credible defence capability does not depend exclusively on sound armed forces but also on swift projection of these forces into theatres of operations.

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