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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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    01January 2006
    Friends again?
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    Three years after the crisis ignited by America’s decision to go to war in Iraq, can the United States and the European Union be said to be ‘friends again’? After a rocky and on occasion openly acrimonious period in EU-US relations during George W. Bush’s first presidency,it seems that transatlantic relations have returned to a more harmonious state.

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    01December 2005
    ESDP Newsletter No. 1
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    Historically speaking, security and defence are late arrivals on the European agenda. But like all young things, the European security and defence policy is growing fast. We have put in place the necessary decision-making structures and launched a process to enhance European capabilities, which has been given fresh impetus with the creation of the European Defence Agency.

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    01December 2005
    The EU mission in Aceh: implementing peace
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    The EU Monitoring Mission in Aceh (AMM), Indonesia, marks a new step on the path of the Union to becoming a global player. Endowed with a robust mandate including monitoring demobilisation, the decommissioning of arms, the withdrawal of government forces, the reintegration of former combatants and the launch of a new political process, this new ESDP mission has so far provided an effective contribution in ending years of fighting and paving the way to sustainable peace.

  • 01September 2005
    La politique de sécurité de l'Allemagne
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    Sous l'effet de l'implosion de l'URSS, d'un côté, et de la mondialisation, de l'autre, le contexte stratégique a complètement changé au cours des 15 dernières années. De nouvelles menaces telles que l'hyper-terrorisme, la prolifération des armes de destruction massive et le crime organisé ont remplacé le danger d'une confrontation militaire massive.

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    01September 2005
    EU-US burdensharing: who does what?
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    This Chaillot Paper examines burdensharing patterns between the United States and Europe, focusing in particular on the time period since the 9/11 attacks. It does so by analysing military and civilian burdensharing activities undertaken to address the high-priority challenges identified in the 2002 US National Security Strategy (NSS) and the 2003 European Security Strategy (ESS).

  • 15July 2005
    NPT breakdown
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    After four weeks of diplomatic arm-wrestling, the 2005 Review Conference on the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in New York ended on 27 May in failure. The final document adopted by the 153 delegations listed conference officials and how many meetings were held, but did not contain a single decision or recommendation on any important issue

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    01July 2005
    Towards a European Defence Equipment Market
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    Communication, directive or code? The Commission's Green Paper on Defence Procurement has opened a new debate on how to reach the aim of an EDEM. In September 2004, the European Commission (EC) issued a Green Paper on Defence Procurement, proposing various options to improve transparency and openness of defence markets between EU member states.

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    01July 2005
    Attention, danger!
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    On avait accusé les électeurs du « non » d’obscurantisme. Les dirigeants font pire, aggravant par le haut la crise que les électeurs d’en bas ont ouverte au sein de l’Union. Du côté des opinions, le message dominant est que rien ne va plus.

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    01May 2005
    Defence procurement in the European Union
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    In September 2004, the European Commission issued a Green Paper on defence procurement, proposing various options to improve transparency and openness of defence markets between EU member states. The Green Paper opened a discussion on procurement law which rapidly widened into a general debate on how to move towards a common Defence Equipment Market.

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    01May 2005
    L'Union et l'Afrique subsaharienne : quel partenariat ?
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    Depuis le début des années 1990, l'Union poursuit un objectif ambitieux aujourd'hui défini par la Stratégie européenne de Sécurité : contribuer à un monde meilleur. La région du monde à la fois la plus pauvre et la plus sujette à la violence est celle avec laquelle le projet européen entretient une relation datant de ses origines et dont le destin a longtemps été façonné par ses Etats membres : l'Afrique subsaharienne.

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