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European Defence: The Year Ahead
After several months of intense work, the European Union ended 2016 having agreed to a number of fresh initiatives designed to articulate (and act on) a new level of ambition for security and defence. Under the overall direction laid down by the EU Global Strategy (EUGS), a specific plan on security and defence (SDIP) was published on 14 November 2016 – elements of which were endorsed at the Foreign Affairs Council on the same day and the 15 December 2016 European Council. Additionally, the European Commission published a European Defence Action Plan (EDAP) on 30 November 2016, and the EU and NATO agreed to act on the Joint Declaration they had signed at the Warsaw Summit in July by adopting conclusions for 42 action points on 6 December 2016. The EU therefore starts 2017 with a range of policy options to enhance defence cooperation: aligning these initiatives to produce coherent policy in the future is now a priority.
EUISS Policy Brief, 2017, No. 1
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Understanding EU Foreign Policy: Theory
The institutional context in which the European Union conducts its external action – starting with the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) – is complex, sometimes unclear, and highly fragmented. Moreover, the large number of players and formats for shaping, making and implementing decisions hardly facilitates a thorough understanding of the modus operandi of the Union in this domain. This volume is intended to offer interested readers a portrait of how the European Union conducts diplomacy – as well as defence, development and other related policies. It offers an overview of how the EU has evolved as a foreign policy actor especially since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, and includes analyses of the main players in the EU system and their interplay, conveying both past dynamics and present trends. The book examines both the broader institutional context (European Commission, Parliament and Council) and the specific CFSP/CSDP set-up (the ‘multi-hatted’ High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service and other bodies) with a view to highlighting the challenges and opportunities they create for Europe’s foreign policy. It also describes the policies that underpin the EU’s external action, as well as covering the geographical dimension and analysing the Union’s array of ‘strategic partnerships’ throughout the world.
EUISS Book Chapter, 2017
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The EU, NATO and the European Defence Market: Do Institutional Responses to Defence Globalisation Matter?
The European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are both institutions through which European states can engage in European defence–industrial cooperation. Each organisation embodies a unique set of institutional tools through which to manage issues such as the high and rising costs of defence procurement, technological innovation, defence R&D, standardisation, multinational capability programmes and interoperability. In short, the EU and NATO are institutional tools through which European states can manage the positive effects and negative consequences of defence globalisation. By drawing on an innovative conceptual framework derived from the institutional interaction literature, this article analyses how the EU and NATO interact with one another for defence–industrial issues. In doing so, the article principally aims to provide a conceptually informed analysis of the appeal of each body as a mechanism for defence–industrial cooperation and how each institution affects the other.
European Security, Vol. 26, No. 3
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EU Defence Research in Development
On the 14 November 2016 EU member states welcomed the presentation of the Implementation Plan on Security and Defence (SDIP) by the High Representative/Vice-President. The plan serves as a follow-up to the EU Global Strategy (EUGS) with a specific focus on security and defence, but, more than this, the SDIP presents ideas that are directed at turning the EU’s vision on security and defence into action.
With the presentation of the SDIP, and the European Commission’s forthcoming European Defence Action Plan (EDAP), the focus will now turn to producing tangible results.
EUISS Policy Brief, 2016, No. 43
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Making Europe and Europeans Safer
One of the criticisms associated with plans for closer European defence cooperation is that there are no new ideas around. The ‘EU Battlegroups’, ‘Permanent Structured Cooperation’, even the idea for an ‘EU Operational Headquarters’ or a ‘Defence Semester’ are seen as old and sometimes unwieldly initiatives, reminiscent of debates that have hardly made any progress. For their part, labels such as ‘EU Army’ or ‘Permanent Military Headquarters’ have counterproductively hijacked the entire public discussion. Yet perhaps the various policy ideas and treaty provisions that relate to defence need to be looked at in a different light. Perhaps the key is to experiment with combinations of old ideas with a new perspective in mind: out of the old comes the new.
EUISS Policy Brief, 2016, No. 39 (written with Antonio Missiroli)
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The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Defence, Industry and Strategy
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, if ratified by all parties, is likely to have ramifications for the global defence market and the US’ economic and political strategy towards the Asia-Pacific region. Although the TPP excludes a number of defence-related issues such as defence procurement, the TPP’s provisions on technology transfers and intellectual property rights could bolster the US’ military-technology relations with the Asia-Pacific. For Europe, which is excluded from the Partnership, the likely impact of TPP is uncertain and could raise important challenges and opportunities related to Europe’s own defence-industrial relations with the Asia-Pacific and its wider security role in the region.
The International Spectator, Vol. 51, No. 4
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After the EU Global Strategy: Security and Defence – Consulting the Experts
Following the publication of the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy (EUGS) in June, attention has now turned to how the strategy can concretely be implemented. A Security and Defence Implementation Plan (SDIP) will focus on the EU’s ability – primarily through the CSDP – to respond to external conflicts and crises, build the capacities of partners affected by fragility and instability, and protect Europe.
The task ahead is to define a shared level of ambition on security and defence and to identify actionable proposals for the future. The EUISS organised a workshop dedicated to the SDIP in Brussels on 17 October, where leading experts and analysts shared their thoughts and ideas with key policymakers and the main drafters of the SDIP, including Nathalie Tocci, who was responsible for coordinating the Global Strategy. This volume presents a compilation of the memos that these experts drafted following the workshop, in which they outline their preferred level of ambition and priority areas for EU security
EUISS Books, 2016 (written with Antonio Missiroli and Jan Joel Andersson)
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After the EU Global Strategy: Connecting the Dots
The EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy (EUGS) is quite candid about the challenges facing European defence and it understandably calls for defence cooperation to become the norm rather than the exception. The new strategy provides Europe with a realistic analysis of the present challenges and it lays the foundations for further action on security and defence. Far from calling for a panoply of new initiatives, the EUGS prudently makes the case for a calculated and proactive consolidation of existing EU policies and instruments. While it may seem frivolous to some to talk about the streamlining of institutions and existing policies at the present time, the EU can ill-afford not to further rationalise its defence policy. The forthcoming publication of the European Commission’s Defence Action Plan (EDAP) and the likely creation of a European Defence Research Programme (ERDP) make institutional streamlining and creative thinking in this field vital.
EUISS Policy, 2016, No. 33
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The European Union
Covering the main political organs of the UN, important regional and security organizations, international judicial institutions and the regional human rights protection systems, An Institutional Approach to the Responsibility to Protect examines the roles and responsibilities of the international community regarding the responsibility to protect. It also proposes improvements to the current system of collective security and human rights protection.
Cambridge University Press, 2016 (chapter written with Marie Vincent)
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A Revolution Too Far? US Defence Innovation, Europe and NATO’s Military-Technological Gap
The United States is launching another defence innovation initiative to offset the growing military-technological might of countries such as China, Russia and Iran. However, by utilising emerging technologies from the commercial sector to achieve greater military power the US may further open up the technology gap within NATO. This raises serious questions for NATO’s European allies. This article probes the nature of the US’s latest innovation strategy and sets it within the strategic context facing Europe today. Whether European governments, firms and militaries will join the US in its new defence innovation drive will hinge on politico-military and industrial considerations.
Journal of Strategic Studies, 2017, Vol. 40, No. 3
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Daniel Fiott 