In 2009 the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) celebrates its tenth anniversary. Throughout this decade, ESDP has been defined in relation to the existing system of collective security, NATO. As an expression of the quality of transatlantic relations in general, the relationship of ESDP and NATO has always been shaped by the following two contradictions. The first contradiction is the fact that the U.S. is demanding a more actively engaged Europe that is willing and able to bear a greater share of the burden of upholding the international order. At the same time, U.S. governments have been very reluctant in agreeing to a stronger and more independent political and military role for Europe. Europe is supposed to take more responsibility without gaining more say in political decisions. This is complemented by the European contradiction: Europeans demand exactly such a stronger political role for themselves while they remain unwilling to expand their (military) capabilities accordingly. They call for a responsibility they are not able to shoulder.

Read the rest of this entry »

When the EU was established and many decades after, one of its most remarkable characteristics was that it was an internationally recognized civilian power, a player on the international level that was able to maintain its status and recognition without the promotion or use of military power. However, the development of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) has raised widespread concerns over the EU’s identity as a civilian power and the gradual replacement of civilian power policy by military force. The Europeanization in the field of security and defence thus threatens to lead to a loss of control in executive decision-making on the use of military force by national parliaments which neither the European Parliament nor the former WEU have been able to compensate.

Many describe this process as the second strand of the ‘double democratic deficit’ that has been residing in the European Union. The first strand is the familiar notion of a general democratic deficit in the European Union, which has been a topic of debate ever since European Integration went beyond the establishment of a Free Trade Area. However, it is true that there are several grave distinctions that need to be made between the democratic deficit in the first and the one in the second pillar. Read the rest of this entry »