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Transnational challenges

There is a growing overlap between the EU’s internal and external security problems. Terrorism, organised crime and unregulated migration not only pose a threat to European internal security, but also have a serious impact on the stability of Europe’s immediate neighbourhood. Very often, they find their roots in conflicts and instability further abroad in Africa or Asia.

For some time, the European Union has been active in international debates on the governance of these challenges, and has created new policy instruments of its own. Already in the early 1990s, the EU successfully linked its home-affairs priorities with its Common Foreign and Security Policy. The 2015 migration crisis showed the limits of that approach, and has sparked a new wave of reforms.

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  • 25September 2006
    Implementing the BTWC: challenges and prospects

    The EUISS held a conference on the Biological and Toxins Weapon Convention (BTWC) in order to examine the challenges associated with the implementation of the BTWC and possible implementation assistance requirements.

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    01October 2005
    International terrorism: the changing threat and the EU’s response
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    If any Europeans observing the 9/11 atrocities in the United States had comforted themselves with the belief that Europe was immune from such attacks, this illusion was tragically shattered by the bombings in Madrid (2004) and London (2005) which resulted in the slaughter of many civilians.

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    01September 2005
    Disasters, Diseases, Disruptions: a new D-drive for the EU
    By

    The European Security Strategy (ESS) issued by the EU in December 2003 devoted its first chapter to what it called ‘global challenges’. Most of those challenges –poverty, infectious disease, drought and famine, violent conflict – affect the Europe of today only indirectly and/or moderately. By contrast, some of them – global warming, infrastructural disruptions, migration flows – may affect European societies in a much more dramatic fashion in the future.

  • 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

  • 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.

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    01April 2005
    Effective non-proliferation: The European Union and the 2005 NPT Review Conference
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    The European Union has identified the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as a key threat to its security, and considers the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a cornerstone of its strategy of fighting the spread of WMD. A successful outcome of the NPT Review Conference in May 2005 is thus of essential interest to the Union.

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    01March 2005
    Information security: a new challenge for the EU
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    The Internet has opened a new area of communication and information, enabling us to transfer enormous amounts of digital data for a great variety of applications within fractions of a second around the globe. It is therefore no surprise that it has become, within only a few years, the spinal column of modern societies. Citizens, research institutions, private business, NGOs, political parties and public services all increasingly depend in their daily life and work on interlinked information systems and networks.

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    01July 2004
    Protecting the European homeland — the CBR dimension
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    The Sarin attacks carried out by the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo in Matsumoto and Tokyo highlighted the threat posed by non-state actors equipped with non-conventional weapons. Although the number of casualties was limited, the attack signalled a cause for concern.

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    01December 2003
    Fighting proliferation — European perspectives
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    Since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and the war in Iraq, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction has become a top priority for European policy-makers. According to the European Security Strategy, it is potentially the greatest threat to the EU’s security, in particular if it is linked to terrorism.

  • 20November 2003
    Interparliamentary conference on the global partnership against the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction

    The EUISS participated in the organisation of a major inter-parliamentary conference, led and financed by the European Commission and held at the European Parliament. The conference was organised in the spirit of the G8 Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, and under the French presidency of the G8.

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