A global security strategy for the European Union

A security strategy is a policy-making tool which, on the basis of given values and interests, outlines long-term overall objectives to be achieved and the basic categories of instruments to be applied to that end. It serves as a reference framework for day-to-day policy-making in a rapidly evolving and increasingly complex international environment.

The absence of an explicit strategy need not be a problem if all those involved in policymaking share the same basic views and can thus easily reach a consensus on policies that fit within these general guidelines, even if they are not explicitly written down. But with regard to the external policies of the EU, distributed among all three EU pillars, this is clearly not the case, in particular in areas covered by the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and its military instrument, the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). Member States hold widely divergent views as to the ambitions of the Union as a player on the international stage, the desirable degree of EU autonomy and the instruments and capabilities the Union should develop. There is no common strategic vision behind the existing – but incomplete – consensus on the need to develop more effective military capabilities for the EU. As a consequence, EU external policy lacks direction, determination and consistency. Faced with the initiatives of a dominant global player, the US, that is both very determined and very powerful and does possess an explicit strategy – the National Security Strategy adopted in September 2002 –, the EU is necessarily restricted to a reactive role. Without a clear security strategy of its own, the EU cannot escape the American framework of thought and promote its own policy priorities in terms of both objectives and instruments. Therefore the taboo on strategic thinking at European level needs to be broken and the strategic concepts of the individual Member States – some more, others less elaborate – aligned.