After ten years the ESDP has reached an important milestone in its
development. It is one of the most dynamic policy areas in the
framework of the European Union (EU) and is a substantial
integration project. Behind this background the study analyzes the
question, What has ESDP achieved in its main fields of action
(capabilities, operations/missions and strategic partnership with
NATO to include transatlantic relations) to meet the requirements
of the European Security Strategy (ESS)? The ESS as the overarching
strategic document for the ESDP claims an encompassing security
approach and calls to be more capable, more active, more coherent
and calls to intensify working with partners. Hence, the ESS
together with its implementation report provides the criteria to
measure the achievements of the ESDP. In regard to capability
development in many respects progress has been made over the last
ten years to be more capable. ESDP specifically has built up
military and civilian rapid response capabilities (EU Battlegroups
and Civilian Response Teams) and the EU has established a European
Defense Agency (EDA). However, there is still a lack in military
key capabilities and the military reform process in Europe remains
slow. Further improvements are necessary focusing on spending money
more efficiently and using the EDA to enhance pooling of assets.
Operations and missions are the ESDP's figurehead to be more active
and to meet the requirement of a global security actor. With
twenty-two military operations and civilian missions since 2003 the
footprint is considerable. ESDP engagements span almost the globe
and cover a wide spectrum (stabilization, rule of law,
anti-piracy). Nevertheless, they have been limited in scope and
time and the ESDP is still untested in 'high end' operations. A key
question for the future is less the number of ESDP engagements but
there size, mandate and political ambition. To avoid an
overextension of the ESDP clear priorities and regional strategies
are needed. With regard to working with partners the current
context of the EU - NATO partnership and the underlying
transatlantic relations seem more favorable than in the recent
years. The United States in principle wants a strong European
partner and the ESDP with its civil-military tools is increasingly
perceived as added value in a complementary role to NATO for crisis
management. There is already close cooperation between EU/ESDP and
NATO in the framework of 'Berlin Plus' (Bosnia) or in the way both
are working alongside together (Afghanistan, Kosovo). However,
despite a more constructive tone between both the unresolved
Turkey-Cyprus issue is an obstacle to a true strategic partnership
and urgently requires a political solution. In any case, the pull
of events, such as Afghanistan, piracy or France's return to NATO's
integrated structures, seems to be bringing NATO and the EU/ESDP
inexorably closer together. The availability of all instruments -
civil and military - makes the ESDP so attractive but coherent and
efficient use is necessary. Initiatives to enhance the coherence of
institutional structures and the coordination of the ESDP
engagements and the EU Commission's activities have been made but
they are not yet sufficient. The Lisbon Treaty in force since
December 1st, 2009 includes regulations for further improvement of
the ESDP and for better coherence but the implementation needs time
and results can only be expected gradually. In summary, this study
outlines that the ESDP has made significant progress in the main
fields of action and has substantially increased the EU's
contribution to international security. However, the ESDP is still
a process in the making and a lot still needs to be done. Hence, at
the threshold of the second decade of the ESDP this ever advancing
process continues and will require all the commitment of its
stakeholders.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(4)
