Common Security and Defence Policy

The European Security and Defence Policy or ESDP is considered a major element of the Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar of the European Union (EU). The European Security and Defence Identity (ESDI) was initiated by provisions of the Amsterdam Treaty which stipulated the progressive framing of a common security and defence policy that could deal with humanitarian and rescue, peacekeeping, peacemaking and combat forces crisis management tasks, called the Petersberg tasks.

The ESDI was superceded by the ESDP, largely as a result of a bilateral declaration of French President Jacques Chirac and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair in St. Malô, where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 appointed Javier Solana as the High Representative of the CFSP to help progress both the CFSP and the ESDP.

European Security

The European Security Strategy is the policy document that guides the European Union's international security strategy, setting out its main priorities and identifying the main threats, such as terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflict, failed states, and organised crime. The strategy was published and agreed upon by EU leaders in December 2003. It was developed by Javier Solana, High Representative of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy.

European defence

The total spent by the 25 EU nations on defence is approximately €160 billion. On July 12 2004 details of an EU defence agency were finalised. The 80 person agency will be headed by Javier Solana. It will provide political guidance to ensure greater efficiency in EU members military spending, liasing closely with NATO in the process.

Petersberg tasks

The Petersberg tasks are the military tasks of a humanitarian, peacekeeping and peacemaking nature that the European Union (EU) and the Western European Union (WEU) are empowered to do. They were defined in June 1992 at the Hotel Petersberg near Bonn in Germany at a meeting of the Council of the WEU, where the member states agreed to deploy their troops and resources from across the whole spectrum of the military under the authority of the WEU. As a part of the partial merger of the WEU with the European Union these tasks now form a part of the European Security and Defence Policy, and are central to strengthening the European Union's second pillar, the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

Elements of the ESDP

• European Defence Agency
• European Rapid Reaction Force
• 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 Nice European Council.

• Political and Security Committee or PSC
• European Union Military Committee or EUMC
• European Union Military Staff or EUMS

Constitution

The draft EU constitution attempted to codify the European Security and Defence Policy further, but it was ultimately rejected by both France and the Netherlands, and as such did not come into effect. The draft constitution read:

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. (Art. 1-41 2)

Missions in the ESDP context

Operations launched by the EU in the ESDP context include:

Past Operations

• EUFOR Concordia: Launched 31 March, 2003 in the Republic of Macedonia following the request of President Boris Trajkovski. This operation made use of NATO assets and capabilities.
• Operation Artemis: A military operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, conducted in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1484 of 30 May, 2003, and adopted by the EU on 5 June, 2003. The mission ended on 1 September, 2003. This was the first time the EU conducted a military operation without NATO assistance. France was the "framework nation" and main contributor of forces.
• EUJUST Themis: More fully the EU Rule of Law Mission to Georgia, this mission was launched on 16 July, 2004 for a duration of 12 months, and was designed to support the Georgian authorities in challenges to the criminal justice system and reform process.

Current Operations

• European Union Police Mission or EUPM: Police mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina that started on 1 January, 2003.
• EUPOL Proxima: More fully the European Union Police Mission in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), this operation was launched on 15 December, 2003 and covered an initial period of one year.
• EUFOR Althea: This is a EU military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a transition from the NATO-led SFOR. Transfer of authority from SFOR to EUFOR happened on 2 December, 2004.
• EUPOL Kinshasa: In October 2003, the Democratic Republic of Congo requested the EU for assistance in setting up an Integrated Police Unit. EUPOL KINSHASA will monitor, mentor, and advise the IPU once trained and operational under a Congolese chain of command, until the national elections in DRC foreseen to be held in 2005.
• EUJUST Lex: The objective of this judicial mission to Iraq is to train some 770 judges, investigating magistrates, and senieor police and penitentiary officers. It was launched on 21 February 2005.
• EUSEC DR Congo: Launched on 2 May 2005. The European mission is to provide advice and assistance for security sector reform in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• EU support for AMIS II: European support for the mission of the African Union in Darfur.
• Aceh Monitoring Mission: The European Union, together with contributing countries from ASEAN, as well as with Norway and Switzerland, has deployed in September 2005 a monitoring mission in Aceh (Indonesia), monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)
• EU COPPS: EU support to the Palestinian Civil Police, security sector reform and criminal justice
• EU BAM Rafah: A Border Monitoring Mission at the Rafah border-crossing between the Gaza and Egypt

Possible Future Operations

• A Peace Advancement Mission/ Border Monitoring Mission in Moldova/ Ukraine (Transdnistria-Region)

Predecessors of the ESDP

• European Defence Community: The EDC was a defence community proposed in the 1950s soon after the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community. The founding treaty failed to be ratified and the project was abandoned.
• Western European Union: The WEU was created after the failure of the EDC, an organisation composed of those states who were members of both NATO and EU. Partially dormant, its tasks have been in part transferred to the EU. It's not yet certain whether the WEU will remain an independent organisation or be eventually fully merged into the EU.

See also

• Eurocorps
• European defence procurement
• OCCAR

External links

• European Defence website
• Council of the EU
• EU defence policy
• Analysis of Policy
• On the European Security Strategy

Read the presentation of the Eurocorps-Foreign Legion concept and its Single European Regiment on: http://paginas.pavconhecimento.pt/pessoais/dw/Mario_Zanatti

• Online Course on ESDP