CSDP between internal constraints and external challenges

Report N^o17 - 06 November 2013 - edited by Eva Gross, Anand Menon

Improving Europe’s military and civilian capabilities in a shifting security environment represents a major challenge for the EU and its member states. For one thing, European countries are having to contend with a climate of economic austerity that makes arguments in favour of investment in defence less convincing than they may (or may not) have been in more affluent times; second, broader geopolitical and strategic trends point towards Europeans assuming greater responsibility for their own security and the protection of European interests abroad; finally, the changing nature of conflict and projections concerning the coming decades call for a recalibration of the EU’s approach and appropriate instruments for its engagement in conflicts in its neighbourhood and beyond.

This report is the outcome of a conference held together with King's College London in September 2013 entitled 'CSDP between internal constraints and external challenges: the road ahead'.

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