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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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    27September 2017
    The cybridisation of EU defence
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    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
    EUPOL Afghanistan 2007/16: Mission Impossible?
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    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
    MPCC: towards an EU military command?
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    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
    EUISS Yearbook of European Security 2017
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    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
    Funding EU defence cooperation
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    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
    The CARD on the EU defence table
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    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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    26April 2017
    European defence cooperation in the second machine age
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    Over the past decades, defence cooperation has helped European countries preserve their security. Defence cooperation in the second machine age may, however, need to evolve and move beyond traditional joint procurement programmes to pertain also to new domains.

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    17February 2010
    Cooperation by Committee
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    This paper examines the examples of the Civilian Crisis Management Committee (Civcom) and EU Military Committee (EUMC), in order to shed light on the transgovernmental dynamic within the field of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), the EU’s cornerstone policy mechanism for crisis response in third countries.

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    20January 2010
    Planning for EU military operations
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    The EU's military planning capacity is in need of a major overhaul. The lack of a permanent operational planning headquarters undermines peacekeeping performance, and more broadly, the development of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). This Occasional Paper seeks to reconcile the need to address existing deficiencies in military planning and command and control with the general resistance to a permanent military operational headquarters.

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    17December 2009
    Strength in numbers? Comparing EU military capabilities in 2009 with 1999
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    The 1999 Helsinki Summit saw EU governments committing to a reform of their military capabilities, better equipping their armies for peacekeeping missions. In this latest EUISS Policy Brief, Daniel Keohane and Charlotte Blommestijn examine just how much progress has been made in the past ten years.

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    29October 2009
    What ambitions for European defence in 2020?
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    Revised in light of the Irish Lisbon Treaty referendum results, this second edition seeks to define Europe’s long-term security and defence ambitions, concluding with a ten-point ‘roadmap to 2020’ based on the premise that the European Union needs to build both a robust civilian and military capacity on the foundations of what has already been achieved.

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    28October 2009
    ESDP Newsletter - Special Issue: ESDP@10 No.9
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    This year, the European Security and Defence Policy celebrates 10 years of collective endeavour. In a special issue, the ESDP newsletter revisits the developing structure, the endorsement of the European Security Strategy and the 22 missions which have been launched during the 10 years of ESDP. In Javier Solana’s words, “Ten years ago, ESDP was an aspiration; now it is a reality on the ground, with crisis-management operations making a real difference to people’s lives across the world.”

  • 19October 2009
    ESDP: The first 10 years (1999-2009)
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    This book breaks new ground by providing the first comprehensive review of every ESDP operation to date. It explains how the EU institutions responsible for international crisis management have developed and functioned, reviews the civil and military resources available to the ESDP, and analyses the key partnerships between the EU and other international organisations.

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    08October 2009
    The Institute's quarterly newsletter No.30
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    Articels in this ISSue: Álvaro de Vasconcelos looks back to 1989 and draws conclusions for Europe today, Ahmet Davutoglu outlines his vision of future EU - NATO cooperation and the role of non-EU allies in contributing to the European Security and Defence Policy and Jean Pascal Zanders looks at Obama and the the first steps toward disarmament.

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    11August 2009
    ESDP Newsletter No. 8
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    In the last year, the EU has been conducting two major military operations in and around Africa as well as continuing its police mission in Afghanistan. This Summer issue looks at the EU's engagement in these regions. It also gives a bird's eye view of an ESDP operation as seen from the EU Satellite Centre and finally Karl von Wogau, Chairman of the European Parliament Sub-Committee for Security and Defence, takes stock of the development of ESDP.

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    15July 2009
    EU security and defence: core documents 2008
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    This chronological compilation brings together official documents on European security and defence, including statements, decisions and other material from the relevant EU structures. It is a valuable reference tool for all those interested in the EU’s common foreign and security policy, allowing for quick identification of the key issues on the agenda for the year 2008.

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    01April 2009
    Security Sector Reform in Afghanistan: the EU’s contribution
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    The EU engages in aspects of security sector reform through EUPOL Afghanistan, the police mission launched in 2007, and through the European Commission’s contributions to justice reform in the country. Based on an analysis of past efforts at police reform by the EU and other European and international actors, this paper identifies a set of internal and external coordination challenges that hamper mission success.

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  • 18June 2010
    CSDP and Turkey

    Organised with the support of the Instituto Español de Estudos Estratégicos (Spanish Ministry of Defence), Middle East Technical University (METU, Ankara) and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this seminar explored Turkey's role in CSDP operations and ways ahead for future cooperation.

  • 03May 2010
    European perspectives on NATO's strategic concept

    This brainstorming meeting explored European perspectives on NATO's new strategic concept. Taking place in Paris on 3 May 2010, the two sessions focused on what Europe should think about NATO's new strategic concept and what the future holds for EU-NATO cooperation.

  • 26April 2010
    Peacebuilding and the security-development nexus

    In preparation for the 2010 Annual Conference 2010, this seminar focused on how to support peacebuilding in the field. Developing mediation capacities at the local level in conflict-prone and fragile countries was seen as paramount in the peacebuilding sector.

  • 18March 2010
    Lessons from EUFOR Tchad/RCA

    The EUFOR Tchad/RCA lessons learned seminar hosted by the Institute on 18 March facilitated a debate on the effectiveness of the EU mission in Chad. The discussions resulted in a number of recommendations for the planning, conduct and execution of subsequent EU operations and generated several ideas for the future of the CSDP.

  • 11December 2009
    Turkey and the ESDP: towards enhanced cooperation?

    The EUISS co-hosted the second Seminar on Turkey and the ESDP at Bosphorus University in Istanbul on 11 December 2009. The debate centred on the assumption that an open CSDP is not only a viable idea, but could also constitute a suitable framework for enhanced security cooperation with third countries in a multipolar world.

  • 28July 2009
    ESDP@10: what lessons for the future?

    The Institute organised a conference jointly with the Swedish Presidency of the EU and in collaboration with the Swedish Institute of International Affairs in Brussels on ESDP. The event was also the occasion for the launch of the Institute's new book 'What ambitions for European defence in 2020?'

  • 09March 2009
    Presentation of ISS Report nº 5

    European Security Strategy 2003-2008 Building on common interests

  • 04February 2009
    Cyber security: what role for CFSP?

    The seminar’s goal was to initiate a first discussion on the implications for the EU of the cyber security agenda and related threats; to raise subject awareness; and to identify a number of critical issues for the possible development of a policy under the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

  • 31October 2008
    2008 Annual Conference - Partnerships for effective multilateralism: managing global crises

    The Institute’s 2008 annual conference took place on 30-31 October in Paris. It opened with the traditional address by EU High Representative Javier Solana, who outlined the current challenges in EU foreign policy, particularly in the light of the global financial crisis.

  • 18September 2008
    Strengthening ESDP: the EU's approach to international security

    This seminar was the third in the EUISS’s 2008 series on the implementation of the European Security Strategy. Taking place in Helsinki on 18-18 September, it focused on the EU’s security and defence policy (ESDP).

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