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Common
foreign and security policy
The idea that a strong Europe should act as one on the world stage has
encouraged member countries to work together to achieve a coherent
approach to foreign policy. Progress over the years has been slow, but
steady.
The first step was an ambitious but unsuccessful attempt in the early
1950s to create a European Defence Community among the six founding
members of the European Union. Then came a process called ‘European
political cooperation’, launched in 1970, which sought to coordinate the
positions of member states on foreign policy issues of the day. EU
countries produced joint statements whenever they could. But on
particularly sensitive issues, it was not always possible to reach the
required unanimous decision.
In the last 15 years, the Union has intensified efforts to play an
international political and security role more in line with its economic
status. The conflicts that erupted in Europe after the fall of the
Berlin Wall in 1989 convinced EU leaders of the need for effective joint
action. More recently, the fight against international terrorism has
strengthened this conviction.
The lessons of the Balkans
The principle of a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was
formalised in 1992 in the Treaty of Maastricht. Only a few months later,
war broke out in former Yugoslavia. The European Union tried
unsuccessfully to broker a political solution to the crisis. As the EU
had no military force of its own, its member countries could only
intervene as part of UN and Nato forces which were later sent to the
region.
The lessons of this experience were not lost. In the light of the Balkan
wars, and of conflicts in Africa in the 1990s, the EU has created a
European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) within the overall framework
of the CFSP.
Under the ESDP, military or police forces can be sent to areas of crisis
to carry out humanitarian operations, peacekeeping, crisis management
and even peacemaking. Military action is carried out by an EU rapid
reaction force, separate from Nato but with access to Nato resources.
The first missions carried out under the ESDP were in former Yugoslavia,
the scene of earlier EU frustrations. An EU police mission replaced a
taskforce of UN police officers in Bosnia and Herzegovina in January
2003, while an EU military force took over from Nato in the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia three months later.
Action against landmines
In December 1997, in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, 122 nations signed
the Mine Ban Treaty. It bans the use, production, transfer and
stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines and became binding international
law on 1 March 1999.
International anti-mine action helps to promote global peace and
stability and lessen human suffering in mine-affected regions. It
continues to be a top priority for the European Union which contributed
€40 million to this effort in the years 2000-2002 alone.
Attempts have been made over the years to streamline the way CFSP
decisions are taken. But key decisions still require a unanimous vote –
hard when there were 15 EU members, and now even more difficult with 25.
Despite their commitment to the CFSP, member governments sometimes find
it hard to change their own national policy in the name of EU
solidarity. Just how difficult this can be was illustrated by the deep
divisions among EU member states in spring 2003 over whether the UN
Security Council should authorise the US-led war against Iraq.
At a summit meeting in December 2003, EU leaders adopted a European
security strategy. This recognises that citizens in Europe and elsewhere
face potential threats from terrorism, the spread of weapons of mass
destruction and illegal immigration. Each kind of threat needs an
appropriate response, often requiring international cooperation.
Prevention is better than cure
Violent conflicts take an unacceptable toll in terms of human suffering,
destruction and wasted resources. During the 1990s, seven violent
conflicts around the globe cost the international community €200 billion
that could otherwise have been used for peaceful purposes. This is why
the European Union is determined to act more effectively to prevent
conflicts from happening in the first place.
The EU already uses a wide range of traditional tools, including
technical and financial assistance to developing countries, economic
cooperation and trade relations, humanitarian aid, social and
environmental policies as well as diplomatic instruments like political
dialogue and mediation. But it also employs new tools provided by the
ESDP such as gathering information and monitoring international
agreements to anticipate potential conflicts.
In a world where power no longer necessarily means security, the EU must
be able to respond swiftly to specific situations as they arise – and
with the right mix of instruments.
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