No. 155 - Anniversary of the Common Security and Defense Policy overshadowed by continued stalemate

‘Institute for Western Affairs' Bulletin (No.155/2013): Dr Joanna Dobrowolska-Polak, "Anniversary of the Common Security and Defense Policy overshadowed by continued stalemate".

On December 19, 2013, the European Council reviewed the decade-long efforts by the European Commission and the EU member states aimed at developing the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). It comes as no surprise that the proponents of establishing a common European military force and of adopting an integrated EU-wide approach to security and defense involving all of its member states cannot be satisfied with the progress achieved so far in formulating CSDP. While “Europe's strategic and geopolitical environment is evolving rapidly”, the Union itself remains impotent. Faced with highly divergent security interests of individual states and their severely constrained budgets, successive European Councils have found it utterly difficult to formulate a joint position. Despite the round anniversary, the present European Council is far from achieving a breakthrough. The Council has demonstrated the persistence of European divisions and left CSDP initiative in the hands of a small “coalition of the willing” which, in the longer term, may contribute to gaps in the security and defense integration among the member states.