The European Union will take in two new members on 1 January before it has recovered from the indigestion caused by its biggest-ever enlargement two-and-a-half years ago.

In the present report, the focus is placed on the European Union (EU) and its security policy. It commences with some context-setting, i.e. with clarifying the EU’s place in the global and European security “architecture” and its relations with the United Nations, the OSCE and NATO, fi nding the latter to be more controversial than suggested by offi cial declarations. It then proceeds with the analysis of the EU, fi nding its main contribution to regional security to be related to what the EU is and represents rather than to what it does. An analysis of the latter, i.e. the directly security-related institutions and activities of the EU under the auspices of the CFSP (Common Foreign and Security Policy) and the ESDP (European Security and Defence Policy) is also provided as well as an account of the “neighbourhood” programmes of the EU.

The draft Constitutional Treaty for the EU provides for the new post of European Foreign Minister and the establishment of a new European External Action Service (EEAS), or Foreign Ministry of Europe. With the ‘no’ votes in the French and Dutch referendums in May and June 2005, these proposals may appear to some observers to be pretty much dead in the water. While the politics of European integration are going to get much hotter in the coming two years than at any time since 1992, the problems that caused the European Council to support the creation of new measures will not go away simply because the draft Constitutional Treaty is under threat. This Policy Brief reviews a recent plea from the European Parliament for a stronger voice in the constitutional arrangements for EU foreign and security policy. In the wake of the referendum results in France and the Netherlands, there is a new recognition that European leaders must address the democratic deficit in EU decision-making. This will give the Parliament new leverage to press its case that it should have a greater say in shaping the proposed Constitutional measures affecting the EU’s foreign and security policy. The charged political environment may offer the Parliament the chance to bargain for specific increases in its authority (enhanced scrutiny powers over the new EEAS, the European Defence Agency, and the financing of EU military operations). The parliament is also looking for recognition of its role in EU diplomacy. Whether or not the Parliament succeeds in these bids will depend on its ability to speak with one voice and to actively make this voice heard in national capitals in the coming one to two years.

The security policy of the European Union has combined diplomatic, political, cultural, economic and – in this context also -- military measures to foster international stability. The European Union should continue to develop this integrated approach.

Patrick Cronin, IISS Director of Studies, and Robin O’Neill, Wyndham Place Charlemagne Trust, introduced the series of meetings. Robert Whalley, Chairperson and former Director for Counter Terrorism and Intelligence at the Home Office, asked participants to bear strategies for Europe, the EU and other fora in mind during the analysis of threats and motivations.

An overview of the national sercurity strategies of EU and NATO countries.

This paper examines the array of tools and mechanisms of the EU in the field of conflict prevention, contrasting short-term and long-term instruments whilst looking in particular at the case of sanctions and military preventive deployments. The number, nature and scope of these instruments have significantly evolved over time to take account of the constant developments of the European integration process and notably the increasingly important role of the EU in the area of foreign policy. Nonetheless, the EU still faces the challenge of approaching, in an effective manner, the whole range of conflict prevention and crisis management strategies and of integrating in its overall preventive strategy the new instruments introduced by the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the European Security and Defense Policy.