This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009)

European Union
This article is part of the series: Foreign relations of the European Union
Foreign policy High Representative Javier Solana ER Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner European Parliament AFET Committee Economic Relations Diplomatic Missions Eurosphere
Security policy Defence Initiative Synch. Armed Forces Europe Defence Procurement Petersberg tasks Helsinki Headline Goal Structures Political and Security Committee Military Committee Military Staff Operations Centre Security & Defence College Defence Agency Institute for Security Studies Satellite Centre Military forces Eurofor Battlegroup Gendarmerie Eurocorps Deployments
Enlargement Candidates Croatia Republic of Macedonia Turkey Applied or SAA Albania (applied) Bosnia and Herzegovina Iceland (applied) Kosovo Montenegro (applied) Serbia
Near abroad EFTA/EEA Iceland Liechtenstein Norway Switzerland Neighbourhood Policy Eastern Partnership Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Georgia Moldova Ukraine Mediterranean Union Israel Morocco European microstates
Other relations G8 Canada Cape Verde Malaysia People's Republic of China Russia United States Transatlantic Economic Council NATO ACP countries Brazil Overseas territories Greenland
v • d • e

European Union

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the European Union

Parliament President Jerzy Buzek Largest groups; Joseph Daul: EPP Martin Schulz: S&D 7th session MEPs (736) 2009-14 term Bureau Vice Presidents Quaestor Conference Legislative procedure

European Council President Fredrik Reinfeldt Parties List of meetings

Council of Ministers Presidency Sweden GAERC ECOFIN Eurogroup Member states Voting Secretariat COREPER

Commission Barroso Commission President José M. Barroso Vice Presidents Margot Wallström Günter Verheugen Antonio Tajani Jacques Barrot Siim Kallas Commissioners Civil Service

Other Institutions Court of Justice Members Rulings Central Bank President ESCB Euro EMU Eurozone Court of Auditors Budget OLAF Other bodies Agencies

Foreign Relations High Representative Javier Solana Foreign Policy Defence Policy Enlargement

Elections 1979, 1984, 1989 1994, 1999, 2004 2009 (last election) 2014 (next election) Political parties People's Socialists ELDR Free Alliance Greens AEN Left Democratic AIDE EUDemocrats Parliamentary groups EPP S&D ALDE G-EFA ECR EUL-NGL EFD Constituencies

Law Acquis communautaire Treaties; Rome 1957 Merger 1965 SEA 1986 Maastricht 1992 Amsterdam 1997 Nice 2001 Lisbon 2007 Fundamental Rights

Other countries · Atlas Politics portal view • talk • edit

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (July 2009)

This article or section may be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective. (July 2009)

The European Security and Defence Policy or ESDP is a major element of the Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar of the European Union (EU) and is the domain of EU policy covering defence and military aspects. The ESDP is the successor of the European Security and Defence Identity under NATO, but differs in that it falls under the jurisdiction of the European Union itself, including countries with no ties to NATO.

Formally, the European Security and Defence Policy is the domain of the Council of the European Union, which is an intergovernmental body in which the member states are represented. Nonetheless, the High Representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy—in the person of Javier Solana—also plays a significant role. In his position as Secretary General of the Council, he prepares and examines decisions to be made before they are brought to the Council. He is based at and supported by the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union.

Contents 1 Political and diplomatic history 1.1 Background 1.2 Petersberg tasks 1.3 WEU-NATO relationship and the Berlin agreement 1.4 Incorporation of the Petersberg tasks and the WEU in the EU 1.5 Helsinki Headline Goal 1.6 EU-NATO relationship and the Berlin Plus agreement 1.7 European Security Strategy 1.8 European Defence Agency 1.9 Treaty of Lisbon 2 Overseas deployments 3 Current content and structure 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links

[edit] Political and diplomatic history

European security policy has followed several different paths during the 1990s, developing simultaneously within the Western European Union, NATO and the European Union itself.

[edit] Background

Earlier efforts were made to have a common European security and defence policy. In 1948, the Western European Union, a collective defence organisation composed of Treaty of Brussels states—who were members of NATO—was founded. NATO soon overshadowed the organisation in importance. In the 1950s, a European Defence Community, similar in nature to the European Coal and Steel Community, was proposed but the French parliament failed to ratify the treaty, and the project was abandoned.

[edit] Petersberg tasks

In 1992, the Western European Union adopted the Petersberg tasks, designed to cope with the possible destabilising of Eastern Europe. The WEU itself had no standing army but depended on cooperation between its members. Its tasks ranged from the most modest to the most robust, and included:^[1]

• Humanitarian and rescue tasks
• Peacekeeping tasks
• Tasks for combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking

[edit] WEU-NATO relationship and the Berlin agreement

At the 1996 NATO ministerial meeting in Berlin, it was agreed that the Western European Union (WEU) would oversee the creation of a European Security and Defence Identity within NATO structures.^[2] The ESDI was to create a European 'pillar' within NATO, partly to allow European countries to act militarily where NATO wished not to, and partly to alleviate the United States' financial burden of maintaining military bases in Europe, which it had done since the Cold War. The Berlin agreement allowed European countries (through the WEU) to use NATO assets if it so wished (this agreement was later amended to allow the European Union to conduct such missions, the so-called Berlin-plus arrangement).

[edit] Incorporation of the Petersberg tasks and the WEU in the EU

The European Union incorporated the same Petersberg tasks within its domain with the Amsterdam Treaty. The treaty signalled the progressive framing of a common security and defence policy based on the Petersberg tasks. In 1998, traditional British reluctance to such a plan changed into endorsement after a bilateral declaration of French President Jacques Chirac and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair in St. Malo, where they stated that "the Union must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed up by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and a readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises".

In June 1999, the Cologne European Council decided to incorporate the role of the Western European Union within the EU, eventually shutting down the WEU. The Cologne Council also appointed Javier Solana as the High Representative of the CFSP to help progress both the CFSP and the ESDP.

[edit] Helsinki Headline Goal

The European Union made its first concrete step to enhance military capabilities, in line with the ESDP, in 1999 when its member states signed the Helsinki Headline Goal. They include the creation of a catalogue of forces, the 'Helsinki Force Catalogue', to be able to carry out the so called “Petersberg Tasks”. The EU launched the European Capabilities Action Plan (ECAP) at the Laeken Summit in December 2001. However, it became clear that the objectives outlined in the Helsinki Headline Goal were not achievable quickly. In May 2004, EU defence ministers approved "Headline Goal 2010", extending the timelines for the EU's projects.

[edit] EU-NATO relationship and the Berlin Plus agreement

Concerns were voiced that an independent European security pillar might result in a declining importance of NATO as a transatlantic forum. In response to St. Malo, the former US-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright put forth the three famous D’s, which outline American expectations towards ESDP to this day: no duplication of what was done effectively under NATO, no decoupling from the US and NATO, and no discrimination against non-EU members such as Turkey.

In the joint EU-NATO declaration of 2002, the six founding principles included partnership—for example, crisis management activities should be "mutually reinforcing"—effective mutual consultation and cooperation, equality and due regard for ‘the decision-making autonomy and interests’ of both EU and NATO, and ‘coherent and mutually reinforcing development of the military capability requirements common to the two organisations’. In institutional terms, the partnership is reflected in particular by the "Berlin plus agreement" from March 2003, which allows the EU to use NATO structures, mechanisms and assets to carry out military operations if NATO declines to act. Furthermore, an agreement has been signed on information sharing between the EU and NATO, and EU liaison cells are now in place at SHAPE (NATO’s strategic nerve centre for planning and operations) and NATO’s Joint Force Command in Naples.

A phrase that is often used to describe the relationship between the EU forces and NATO is "separable, but not separate":^[3] the same forces and capabilities will form the basis of both EU and NATO efforts, but portions can be allocated to the European Union if necessary. Concerning missions, the right of first refusal exists: only if NATO refuses to act, the EU can decide to do so.

[edit] European Security Strategy

The European Security Strategy is the policy document that guides the European Union's international security strategy. Its headline reads: "A Secure Europe In A Better World". The document was approved by the European Council held in Brussels on 12 December 2003 and drafted under the responsibilities of the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy CFSP Javier Solana. With the emergence of the ESDP, it is the first time that Europe has formulated a joint security strategy. It can be considered a counterpart to the National Security Strategy of the United States.

The document starts out with the declaration that "Europe has never been so prosperous, so secure nor so free". Its conclusion is that "The world is full of new dangers and opportunities". Along these lines, it argues that in order to ensure security for Europe in a globalising world, multilateral cooperation within Europe and abroad is to be the imperative, because "no single nation is able to tackle today's complex challenges". As such the ESS identifies a string of key threats Europe needs to deal with: terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflict, failed states, and organised crime. ^[4]

[edit] European Defence Agency

On 12 July 2004, details of a European Defence Agency were finalised. The 80-person agency is headed by Nick Whitney, formerly of the UK's Ministry of Defence. The total spent by the 27 EU nations on defence is approximately €160 billion ($250 billion).

[edit] Treaty of Lisbon

If the Treaty of Lisbon is ratified, it will rename ESDP to Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). It will create a new post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (superseding the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy) Unanimous decisions in the Council of the European Union will continue to instruct the EU foreign policy. Defence and security will become available to enhanced co-operation.

The common security and defence policy shall include the progressive framing of a common Union defence policy. This will lead to a common defence, when the European Council, acting unanimously, so decides. It shall in that case recommend to the member States the adoption of such a decision in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.

The policy of the Union in accordance with this article shall not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain member states, which see their common defence realised in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, under the North Atlantic Treaty, and be compatible with the common security and defence policy established within that framework.

[edit] Overseas deployments

The first deployment of European troops under the ESDP, following the 1999 declaration of intent, was in March 2003 in the Republic of Macedonia. "EUFOR Concordia" used NATO assets and was considered a success and replaced by a smaller police mission, EUPOL Proxima, later that year. Since then, there have been other small police, justice and monitoring missions. As well as Macedonia, the EU has maintain its deployment of peacekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of EUFOR Althea mission^[5].

Between May and September 2003, "Operation Artemis" began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) under UN Security Council Resolution 1484. This laid out the "framework nation" system to be used in future deployments. The EU returned to the DRC during July–November 2006 with EUFOR RD Congo, which supported the UN mission there during the country's elections.

Geographically, EU missions outside the Balkans and the DRC have taken place in Georgia, Indonesia, Sudan, Palestine, and Ukraine-Moldova. There is also a judicial mission in Iraq (EUJUST Lex). On 28 January 2008, the EU deployed its largest and most multi-national mission to Africa, EUFOR Tchad/RCA^[6]. The UN-mandated mission involves troops from 25 EU states (19 in the field) deployed in areas of eastern Chad and the north-eastern Central African Republic in order to improve security in those regions. EUFOR Tchad/RCA reached full operation capability in mid-September 2008 and is expected to hand over security duties to the UN in mid-March 2009.

[edit] Current content and structure

• European Defence Agency
• Helsinki Headline Goal
• European Gendarmerie Force
• European Union battle groups
• European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) [1]

The following permanent political and military bodies were established after the approval of the European Council.

• Political and Security Committee or PSC
• European Union Military Committee or EUMC
• European Union Military Staff or EUMS
• Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management or CIVCOM

ESDP is furthermore strongly facilitated by the EU Council Secretariat - home of for example Javier Solana, but also the EUMS - which can is some respects be considered as the equivalent of the EC in the second pillar.

From 1 January 2007, the EU Operations Centre began work in Brussels. It can command a limited size force of about 2000 troops (e.g. a battlegroup).

In addition to the EU centre, five national operational headquarters have been made available for use by the Union; Mont Valérien in Paris, Northwood in London, Potsdam, Centocelle in Rome and Larissa. For example, Operation Artemis used Mont Valérien as its OHQ and EUFOR's DR Congo operation uses Potsdam. The EU can also use NATO capabilities.^[7]

[edit] See also

• Eurocorps
• European defence procurement
• OCCAR
• Military of the European Union

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• "Guide to the ESDP" nov.2008 edition Exhaustive guide on ESDP's missions, institutions and operations, written and edited by the Permanent representation of France to the European Union.
• Nugent, Neill (2006). The Government and Politics of the European Union. The European Union Series (Paperback 630pp ed.). Palgrave Macmillan, New York. ISBN 0-230-00002-9, Hardback 630pp, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, ISBN 0-230-00001-0. 
• Howorth, Joylon (2007). Security and Defence Policy in the European Union. The European Union Series (Paperback 315pp ed.). Palgrave Macmillan, New York. ISBN 0-333-63912-X, Hardback 315pp, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, ISBN 0-333-63911-1. 
• PhD Thesis on Civilian ESDP - EU Civilian crisis management (University of Geneva, 2008, 441 p. in French)
• Hayes, Ben (2009). NeoConOpticon: The EU Security-Industrial Complex (Paperback, 84 pp ed.). Transnational Institute/Statewatch. ISBN ISSN 1756-851X. 

[edit] External links

• European Security and Defence Policy - Council of the European Union
• Analysis - Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs