Oefenvragen HC8

• In the 1970s, the European Political Cooperation (EPC) was initiated during the Cold War's détente period, relaxing tensions between the US and the Soviet Union.
• Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik, a German initiative, aimed to improve relations with the Soviet Union and normalize relations between West Germany and Eastern Bloc countries, promoting communication, trade, peace, and stability in a divided Europe.
• The UK joined in 1973, signaling the growing appeal and role of the European Communities in Western Europe both politically and economically.
• The Lomé Agreements were signed in 1975, establishing trade and aid partnerships between the EC and ACP countries, providing trade preferences for ACP countries to export to the EC without tariffs, along with development aid.
• The 1970s Petrol Crisis revealed Europe's vulnerability to external shocks, highlighting the need for a coordinated foreign policy, which triggered discussions on EPC to collectively address economic and political crises.
• Regular summits of the European Council were initiated, where heads of state or government of EU member states meet to set strategic priorities, marking progress towards greater political coordination and unified decision-making in the EU
• Foreign ministers began coordinating international stances to present a united front, using COREU, a communication network, to facilitate quick information exchange and lay the groundwork for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
• Henry Kissinger's question, "With whom do I speak for Europe?", exposed the lack of European unity and excessive fragmentation in diplomacy.
• François Duchêne's Civilian Power Europe promoted Europe's role as a global civilian power, emphasizing economic influence, diplomacy, and development aid over military might, reflecting Ditrany's idea of Functionalism.
• The Single European Act (1987) formalized the EPC by structuring a framework for member states to coordinate foreign policy while decision-making remained intergovernmental, ensuring strong control by individual member states and excluding the Commission, EP, or ECJ to avoid supranationalism.
• The Maastricht Treaty (1992) established CFSP as the EU's second pillar, formalizing and expanding European foreign and security issues.
• It introduced common positions, joint actions, and common strategies for security.
• The Western European Union (WEU) provided military capability for crisis management and peacekeeping, supporting a military dimension
• The Petersberg Tasks focused on humanitarian rescue, peacekeeping, and crisis management as priorities for EU military operations.
• Questions arose about NATO's role and potential overlap (WEU/NATO/CFSP triangle), concerning duplication of effort and divided responsibilities.
• In 1996, the Berlin + European Security and Defence Identity (ESDI) allowed the EU to access NATO resources for its own military operations, strengthening EU-NATO collaboration in defense while avoiding duplication.
• The Amsterdam Treaty (1997) created the High Representative for CFSP, first Javier Solana in 1999, to strengthen the coherence and visibility of EU foreign policy and institutionalized warning and policy planning mechanisms to react faster to crises.
• QMV (Qualified Majority Voting) was introduced for some foreign policy decisions to expedite decision-making, excluding military policies.

1990s and Early 2000s

• The Bosnian war (1992-1995) prompted Bill Clinton to emphasize it as a European issue, urging EU countries to take responsibility for peacekeeping and reconstruction, highlighting the need for stronger defense coordination.
• At the Franco-British St. Malo Summit (1998), France and the UK agreed on the need for EU autonomous military capabilities, independent of but still complementing NATO, marking a step toward a common European defense policy.
• NATO's Kosovo intervention (1999) exhibited Europe's reliance on NATO for security operations, exposing the EU's limited military capabilities at the time during a military intervention to stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
• The Helsinki Headline Goal (1999) aimed to have up to 60,000 forces deployable within a month for a year by 2003, while the Civilian Goal (2000) aimed to deploy 5,000 civilian experts to support post-conflict stabilization.
• The Nice European Council (2000) introduced structures like the Political and Security Committee (PSC), EU Military Committee, and EU Military Staff to facilitate decision-making and planning for EU-led operations, also allowing for operations independent of NATO.
• The EU-NATO Declaration (2002) formalized cooperation between the EU and NATO, defining resource sharing and coordination of military operations to avoid duplication.
• The European Security Strategy (2003), developed in response to the US "Bush Doctrine" (2002) emphasizing unilateral action, pre-emptive strikes, and a focus on combating materials increasing during War on Terror.
• The European Security Strategy identified terrorism, weapons of mass destruction (WMD), regional conflicts, organized crime, and state failure as five security challenges.
• It advocated for multilateralism and international law as the EU's guiding principles, in line with Normative Power Europe (lan Manners, 2002), as well as promoting norms like human rights and abolishing the death penalty globally.
• The first EU military missions with NATO resources in the W. Balkans (2003) and without NATO resources in Congo (2004).
• The European Defence Agency (EDA), excluding Denmark (and UK); comprising 26 countries, to facilitate and support Defence Cooperation and capabilities.
• The European Defence Fund co-finances the defense industry and research projects.
• In 2009, the Lisbon Treaty established the role of HR/VP to strengthen foreign policy coordination.
• The European External Action Service (EEAS) was established to provide staff from the Commission, Council Secretariat, and National Foreign Ministries.
• The EU Global Strategy balanced principled pragmatism by core values with both realistic and effective foreign policy actions.
• Permanent Structured Cooperation (PeSCO) is a legally binding framework for enhancing coordination, increasing investments, and additional defense cooperation under the Lisbon Treaty and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
• Participation in PeSCO is voluntary for member states, and decision-making remains in the hands of the participating Member States in the Council.
• Examples of PeSCo projects include Network of Logistic Hubs, Cyber Rapid Response Teams, and Joint EU Intelligence School.

PeSCo and Third States

• Third states can participate in PeSCo projects under certain conditions.
• Only EU MS committed to binding defense obligations.
• Third states must respect the decision-making autonomy of the EU and not undermine PeSCo's goals
• The War in Ukraine raised questions about the protection of neutral EU member states, as they are not covered by NATO's article 5.
• Germany and other EU states have increased military investments, similar to the COVID-19 rescue package.
• The European Peace Facility has a €5 billion fund for rapid crisis response and urgent military assistance.