Report: EU as a security provider

Europe’s security and defence is back on the agenda due to the increasing turmoil at Europe’s eastern and southern flanks.  In the past, external crises were treated separately from internal security concerns. Now, external and internal security are closely interwoven.  The influence of extreme jihadism can be felt inside Europe. Instability and conflicts in the EU neighbourhood also have other spill-over effects for European security, such as increasing flows of migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

But actors at the national and at the EU levels dealing with external and internal security often still live in separate worlds. The gap between the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy and the Security, Freedom and Justice Area remains, although some progress has been made in constructing  bridges through practical matters. However, closer cooperation and coordination is seriously hampered by political, juridical, institutional and financial issues.

This Clingendael Report addresses the question of how the EU as a security provider should further adapt to the changing security environment. First, it deals with the question of developing further policy in response to the external-internal security nexus, looking in particular at the consequences for the actors involved. Based on this central question the impact on three specific areas has been analysed: the comprehensive approach in EU crisis management; capability development and the defence industry. In all three cases the follow-on work to the December 2013 European Council on Defence takes a prominent place. The Report ends with 28 conclusions and recommendations.