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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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    09December 2016
    Winter is coming – Chilly winds across northern Europe
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    Russia’s recent actions in eastern Europe and significant military build-up along its Western border and in the enclave of Kaliningrad has rattled many nerves. This Brief explores how, as a consequence, all the countries in the Nordic-Baltic region are now rearming.

  • 25November 2016
    After the EU Global Strategy: delivering on security and defence

    On 25 November, the EUISS organised an event focusing on the Security and Defence Implementation Plan (SDIP). As a follow up to the EU Global Strategy (EUGS), the Plan sets a new level of ambition for the EU in security and defence.

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    18November 2016
    The military and the machine
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    Artificial intelligence and autonomous systems are already disruptive technologies in civilian sectors, and the same is likely to happen when they become more prevalent in the military realm. This Alert focuses on the non-lethal applications of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, and how they might impact military capabilities and alter command structures down the road.

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    18November 2016
    EU defence research in development
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    Europe’s shifting security landscape demands concrete action if the EU is to play a role in protecting the continent. This Alert takes a look at some of the pilot projects being launched to deliver tangible results on security and defence.

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    10November 2016
    Managing migration abroad – Why, where, what and how?
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    Because of the intertwining of internal and external security matters, the EU’s model of dealing with crisis is being challenged. This Brief looks at how integrating different approaches and distinct practises across the EU may come to represent the key change for policymakers.

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    10November 2016
    Civilian CSDP: what next?
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    Civilian CSDP missions were downsized in 2016, paradoxically at a time when security needs are growing – with threats largely of a non-military nature. This Brief shows how these changes call for renewed investment in civilian CSDP so that it can find its place in the evolving global crisis management architecture.

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    09November 2016
    Japan’s policy shift: arms and transfers
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    Since lifting its historic ban on arms exports in April 2014, Japan has faced an obstacle-ridden path in becoming an arms exporter. This Alert explores the track record of transfers of Japanese military equipment in the past 18 months, and how the transfers contribute to Tokyo’s strategic ambition of becoming a fully-fledged security actor in the region, even at the expense of economic benefits.

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    28October 2016
    After the EU Global Strategy – Consulting the experts – Security and defence
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    This volume presents a compilation of memos following the EUISS workshop on the Security and Defence Implementation Plan (SDIP), in which leading experts and analysts outline their preferred level of ambition and priority areas for EU security and defence.

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    26October 2016
    Making Europe and Europeans safer
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    In this Alert, the EUISS Director looks at how the EU Global Strategy offers a new perspective for the EU Security and Defence Implementation Plan (SDIP). How can the Union best achieve its goal of making Europe and Europeans feel safer – Secure, Able, Forward-looking, Engaged and Responsive.

  • 18October 2016
    EUISS at EURONAVAL 2016

    The EUISS team participated in the EURONAVAL 2016 exhibition on 18 October at the Parc des Expositions le Bourget.

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    01October 2007
    Pioneering foreign policy: the EU Special Representatives
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    Over the last ten years, the EU Special Representatives (EUSRs) have pioneered EU foreign policy in countries and regions of direct interest to the Union. EUSRs are a face of the Union, enhancing its visibility, and they give it a voice, seeking to deliver a single message to local and international partners, playing an important role in EU foreign policy.

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    01September 2007
    Seeing blue: American visions of the European Union
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    For six decades the United States has supported European integration, yet many Americans have an ambivalent attitude towards the European Union. Some Americans see the EU as the culmination of historic efforts to ensure peace, stability and democracy on the continent, while others consider the Union an elaborate scheme to create a rival to US hegemony. Still others dismiss the EU as irrelevant.

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    01July 2007
    A European centre of excellence in tune with the world
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    The new EUISS Director, Álvaro de Vasconcelos, outlines his vision for the Institute and its role in shaping EU foreign policy in this edition of the Intitute's newsletter 'ISSues'. Other articles include missile defence and gender mainstreaming.

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    01July 2007
    ESDP Newsletter No. 4
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    At dawn on 23 June, after close to 36 hours of intensive talks, EU leaders adopted a mandate for a Reform Treaty. In the field of foreign and security policy, the text foresees the EU should have, as of 2009, a High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy. He will be supported by a European external action service. Another important innovation is the permanent structured co-operation in the field of defence.

  • 01July 2007
    The potential unintended consequences of missile defence in Europe
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    Missile defence in Europe is currently a hotly debated topic in international security. It has animated discussions and raised issues at multiple levels, including ramifications for international relations (e.g. between the US and Russia), intra-EU relations (e.g. concerning national positions), and institutional relations (e.g. the role of NATO).

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    01May 2007
    Gender mainstreaming in ESDP missions
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    In 2000 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325, Women, Peace and Security, which calls for ‘gender mainstreaming’. International organisations, governments and national militaries have become increasingly aware of the unintended gendered side-effects of peacekeeping operations, including incidents of prostitution, trafficking in women and the exploitation of local women and men in post-conflict societies.

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    01March 2007
    EU security and defence — Core documents 2006 — Volume VII
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    The civil war in Iraq, the nuclear issue in Iran, the war in Lebanon, the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock, the energy, Darfur, the disintegration of Somalia, tensions between Georgia and Russia: all these events have increased instability in the EU’s neighborhood in 2006, both to the east and to the south.

  • 01March 2007
    Why EU strategy is relevant today
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    The European Union has considerably extended its sphere of activity and its strategic responsibilities since ESDP was launched in 1999. European mobilisation is no longer restricted to tackling crises in the Balkans. The Union is being increasingly called upon to intervene as a stabilising force in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. But why has there been such an expansion at the international level when, on the home front, the European institutional and political dynamic has been blocked for the past two years? And what are the prospects for the future?

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    01February 2007
    Enter the EU Battlegroups
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    This Chaillot Paper aims to give readers an overview of the EU Battlegroups and their prospective evolution. The study addresses four main questions: (i) the process leading to the creation of the EU Battlegroups; (ii) the main elements covered by the EU BG Concept; (iii) the principal challenges and prospects facing the EU Battlegroups; and (iv) how the EU Battlegroups are likely to evolve over the next few years.

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    01January 2007
    Monitoring a region in crisis: the European Union in West Africa
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    The five West African countries that constitute the Mano River Basin have attracted significant international and regional attention and preoccupation over the last fifteen years. Over the years, a series of agreements has established trade and development aid partnership links between the European Union and the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) group of states.

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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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