CSDP Missions and Operations
This policy brief provides an overview of what the EU has done through its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions and operations since 2003, and which achievements and challenges it faces at the end of EU High Representative/Vice-President (HR/VP) Federica Mogherini’s mandate. It evaluates how the overall political context and the EU’s approach have evolved over time, and how this has affected the launch and implementation of CSDP actions. It looks at a range of criteria for evaluating the success of missions and operations such as effectiveness, degree of match between mission launch and EU interests at stake, responsiveness, coherence with wider policy strategies, coherence with values and norms, and degree of democratic scrutiny and oversight. It assesses some of the achievements as well as shortcomings of previous and ongoing missions and operations against these objectives. The brief identifies three underlying and cross-cutting problems hampering performance: (i) incompatible attitudes among Member States towards the use of force; (ii) resource disincentives and barriers to timely European solidarity; and (iii) gaps between early warning and early action. It outlines some selected initiatives launched and options discussed to address these shortcomings and improve the EU’s performance in crisis management operations.
In-Depth Analysis
External author
Christoph O. Meyer, Professor of European & International Politics, King’s College London, UK
About this document
Publication type
Policy area
Keyword
- BUSINESS AND COMPETITION
- common security and defence policy
- crisis management
- documentation
- economic geography
- EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
- EU institutions and European civil service
- EU Member State
- European construction
- European External Action Service
- EUROPEAN UNION
- European Union law
- GEOGRAPHY
- management
- research report
- the EU's international role
- Treaty on European Union