Research Papers

Whilst there has been substantial advances in CSDP including a host of civilian and military missions, the lack of military capabilities combined with an embryonic strategic culture highlights that there is still a missing ‘D’ in CSDP. We define the defence component of CSDP in terms of the respective military and civilian capabilities. The aim of this paper is to evaluate why the D is missing and what steps have been taken by the EU to try to address its capability deficits. It is underlined that the lack of strategy concerning what role CSDP should play in the international security environment has influenced the policy’s ad hoc development and led to weak capability development. Whilst new tools have been created in recent years, such as the Battlegroups and Permanent Structured Cooperation in Defence, these have not been used. The article will therefore focus on a range of actors which have the ability to take CSDP capability development forward, including the European Defence Agency, the Commission and the Member States. Each will be evaluated to assess its previous success and future potential. In the final analysis the article will stress that whilst an attempt is being made to pool resources at a time of economic crisis, as underlined by the recent ‘pooling and sharing’ initiative, this will not solve the problem in the short to medium term. Partly this is because there has been a downgrading of Member States’ willingness to develop the necessary capabilities due to the lack of a common approach and a strategic vision.