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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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  • 06November 2014
    Presentation of YES 2014 in Vienna

    In partnership with the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, the EUISS presented the abridged German version of its Yearbook of European of European Security 2014 on 6 November in the Austrian capital.

  • 28October 2014
    YES 2014 – Gekürzte Ausgabe – deutsch
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    Das EUISS Yearbook of European Security (YES) 2014 stellt als jährliche Publikation des Instituts Schlüsseldokumente und -daten der Gemeinsamen Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik (GASP) und der Gemeinsamen Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik (GSVP) der EU zusammen.

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    28October 2014
    Fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia: lessons learned from the Contact Group
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    This report aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the objectives, methods, critical success factors and results of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS); and to capture the knowledge and experience resident in the governments and organisations that have contributed to the Group.

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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.

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  • 01July 2003
    European strategy -- first steps
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    For the first time in its history the European Union has set about drawing up a common strategic concept. This is a major event. From necessity during the Cold War and then from a lack of consensus, the Union left strategic thinking to the United States and member states. That has changed for two reasons: divided, Europe is powerless, and an enlarged Europe cannot afford to shirk its responsibilities

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    01June 2003
    €uros for ESDP - financing EU operations
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    The financing of EU-led crisis management operations is a somewhat neglected yet nevertheless crucial factor affecting the external effectiveness and internal consistency of the Union’s foreign and security policy.

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    01June 2003
    EU cooperative threat reduction activities in Russia
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    During the last year, the Institute has participated in a consortium of policy research organisations in the United States, Europe, Russia and Asia that aims to strengthen the G-8’s ‘Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction’ initiative. The consortium, led by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS, Washington, DC), seeks to support and promote cooperative threat reduction (CTR) activities.

  • 21April 2003
    Financing ESDP
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    Curiously enough, after Iraq, CFSP may be in trouble but ESDP seems to be faring well. The main reason is that there is no longer any significant transatlantic or intra-European divergence over how to deal with Balkans: we all agree on both the principles and the means to be applied to the region, and act accordingly.

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    01April 2003
    The Galileo satellite system and its security implications
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    Aiming to reach operational status in 2008, the Galileo satellite system is planned to offer positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services worldwide. It will join the ranks of the current GPS and GLONASS systems, allowing users to pinpoint their exact locations.

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    01April 2003
    Rebuilding
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    Could it be that Europeans, like Americans, believe that from now on ‘the mission determines the coalition, and not the other way round’? That was the new American strategic dogma established as transatlantic doctrine by Donald Rumsfeld after the 11 September attacks.

  • 28March 2003
    EU braucht gemeinsame Außenpolitik
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    Politisch hat der Irak-Krieg schon heute verheerenden Schaden angerichtet. Vor allem die internationalen Organisationen UN, NATO und EU gehören zu den grossen Verlierern. Besonders prekär erscheint dabei die Lage der Europäischen Union, auf die ausgerechnet in der jetzigen Phase der Zerrissenheit entscheidende Weichenstellungen zukommen: Bis zum Sommer soll der Konvent seine Vorschläge zur künftigen Kompetenzverteilung in der EU unterbreiten.

  • 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.

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