Reflection Paper on the Future of European Defence
By European Commission – EC, 2017
Rising from the ashes of two world wars that took 80 million lives, our European Union (EU) was inspired by a vision of lasting peace on the European continent. More than 60 years on, most Europeans have enjoyed a peace spanning three generations and seven decades, the longest period of peace in Europe’s troubled history. While the world we live in may have changed profoundly in that time, our commitment to peace remains unshakeable. Today we enjoy unprecedented opportunities in our everyday lives, but we are also faced with new threats and challenges. Peace and security at home can no longer be taken for granted in a world in which global and regional powers rearm, terrorists strike at the heart of cities in Europe and around the world and cyberattacks escalate. Faced with this context, the European Union and its Member States have a duty and responsibility to protect citizens and promote European interests and values. Security has become one of the biggest concerns for Europeans. They look to their Union for protection. They demand, deserve and must be able to feel safe and secure in Europe.
 Reflection Paper on the Future of European Defence | [ ] |
The Future of the European Security and Defence Policy
By King, A., 2006
The European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) marks an important political moment when European integration has been extended to the issue of defence. Understandably, there has been extensive commentary on the ESDP, most of which has focused on the ESDP’s institutional, industrial or military deficiencies. These commentaries have been illuminating but by concentrating on the manifest weaknesses of the ESDP, scholars have perhaps neglected to discuss explicitly how a coherent ESDP could develop. Drawing on recent work by Ben Tonra, this paper discusses the social conditions which are likely to be necessary if the ESDP is to develop into a robust policy. Above all else, a coherent ESDP depends upon the development of a binding sense of mutual obligation between France, Germany and Britain. These nations need to commit themselves to collective defence goals. The paper goes on to argue that for this collective commitment to be developed between these nations, the ESDP requires missions. Only through missions, in which these nations together experience a shared threat, will enduring shared interests and the collective will to address them be developed. The future of the ESDP will thus be finally determined by the actions which are carried out in its name. In the end, this may mean that a European defence identity develops not through an independent ESDP but through NATO.
| The Future of the European Security and Defence Policy | [ ] |
European Security Strategy - A Secure Europe in a Better World
By European Union – EU, 2003
The European Union has made progress towards a coherent foreign policy and effective crisis management. We have instruments in place that can be used effectively, as we have demonstrated in the Balkans and beyond. But if we are to make a contribution that matches our potential, we need to be more active, more coherent and more capable.
| European Security Strategy | [ ] |
