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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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    09August 2010
    Human rights challenges in EU civilian crisis management
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    The EU has placed a growing emphasis on human rights issues in its civilian crisis management operations over the years, in turn creating operational challenges far beyond what has previously been experienced. This paper uses EUPOL and EUJUST LEX as a yardstick for examining the operational models used by the EU and their implications in a human rights perspective.

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    13July 2010
    The Institute's quarterly newsletter No.32
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    In this quarter's issue of the newsletter, EUISS director Álvaro de Vasconcelos writes about Europe's need to continue impressing its brand of multilateral governance. Guest author Srdjan Dizdarevic; suggests that for BiH to move faster towards the EU, civil society is key in pushing the country's politicians for faster reforms. EUISS Senior Research Fellow Giovanni Grevi explores the future of global governance amidst the shifts in power away from the EU and the US and toward emerging countries.

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    08July 2010
    Quelle défense européenne en 2020?
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    L’édition originale de cet ouvrage a été publiée en anglais en juillet 2009, puis mise à jour en octobre. C’est la version française, révisée après l’entrée en vigueur du Traité de Lisbonne, que nous présentons au lecteur avec une nouvelle préface par Catherine Ashton, Haute Représentante/Vice-présidente de la Commission européenne.

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    01July 2010
    European Union Security and Defence: Core Documents 2009 — Volume X
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    Each year the Core Documents series provides the Institute’s readers with as inclusive a reference work as possible on the EU’s decisions and actions in the field of security and defence. 2009 marked not only the tenth anniversary of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESPD), but also the beginning of a new era with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, creating a new impetus for the external action of the EU.

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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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  • 26November 2013
    The EUISS in Berlin - November 2013

    A delegation from the EUISS traveled to the German capital in order to promote the shortened German version of the EUISS Yearbook for European Security (YES) and attend the Berlin Security Conference.

  • 19September 2013
    CSDP between internal constraints and external challenges: the road ahead

    The EUISS, in collaboration with King´s College London, organised a conference in London on 19 and 20 September in order to develop a series of practical proposals on CSDP leading up to the December 2013 European Council.

  • 23May 2013
    EUISS annual conference 2013

    The 2013 Annual Conference of the EU Institute for Security Studies, entitled ‘European Security. Taking stock and moving forth’, took place in Paris on 23 and 24 May. In addition to a keynote address by HR/VP Catherine Ashton, the conference provided a platform to present the new team of the Institute as well as the first EUISS Yearbook.

  • 13March 2013
    EU Washington Forum 2013

    Taking place in Washington, D.C on the 13-14 March, the 2013 EUWF served as a reminder that diplomacy, development and defence are all important elements in attempts to maintain stability and generate growth, even in times of budgetary constraints.

  • 08June 2012
    The impact of the EU Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002-2012

    This seminar, jointly organised by the EU Police Mission (EUPM) and the EUISS and held in Sarajevo on the 7-8 June, marked 10 years of EU civilian crisis management in the Western Balkans and examined the impact of the EUPM in Bosnia and Herzegovina and lessons learned for the future of CFSP/CSDP.

  • 18March 2012
    Visit of US Journalism Students to Brussels

    In March 2012 the EUISS and the EU Delegation to the United States organised a briefing session for a group of aspiring American journalists in Brussels. Following this event, the EUISS, in partnership with the Medill School at the Northwestern University in Chicago, published the best work of selected students here online.

  • 16September 2011
    Beyond terrorism and privacy: a transatlantic agenda for global security?

    What strategic direction should Euro-Atlantic security cooperation take? And what are the major challenges that need to be addressed? This roundtable, taking place in Brussels on 16 September 2011, reflected upon these crucial issues faced on both sides of the Atlantic.

  • 13July 2010
    Unfinished business in Europe: the Western Balkans and Turkey

    This first seminar in the 'Unfinished business in Europe' series focused on the Western Balkans and Turkey with a particular emphasis on securing and stablising Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia.

  • 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.

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