The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
PROMOTING PROSPERITY AND PRESERVING PEACE – THE COUNCIL'S ROLE IN EXTERNAL RELATIONS
INTRODUCTION
The European Union is now a major player on the world stage. With a population of some 500 million people representing over 25 % of the world's gross domestic product (GDP), providing half of all development aid and contributing to a fifth of world-wide imports and exports, the Union is an active political player, with regional and global security interests and responsibilities to match. It is a role that Europeans and non-Europeans alike want the EU to play.
The EU has a common foreign policy through which it speaks with one voice on key international issues. It is playing an essential role in the Middle East peace process, in diplomacy with Iran and in strengthening the stability of the Western Balkans, including in Kosovo. It has troops, police and judges helping to save lives, and stabilise countries and regions after conflicts across the globe, from Kosovo to Afghanistan and from the Palestinian Territories to Chad. It provides emergency relief in the wake of disasters. The Union has a High Representative, Javier Solana, as its face and voice abroad. It has a security strategy guiding its response to global threats and underpinning its strategic relations with key partner countries and regions, with which it holds regular summits. EU Special Representatives work in all corners of the world to further the Union's foreign policy aims.
The Union has privileged relationships with its closest neighbours in the Western Balkans and the Mediterranean region. It has a vast web of complex relationships with the rest of the world covering political cooperation, trade and development aid, and it plays a key role in international agreements on trade, the environment and human rights. Since January 2007, the Union numbers 27 Member States, following the most recent wave of enlargement that has taken in 12 new members, overcoming the divisions of the continent in the 20th century.
The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
It was the geopolitical changes that followed the collapse of communism at the end of the 1980s, the reunification of Germany, the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the threat of international terrorism that prompted EU leaders to create and develop its formal instruments of diplomacy and intervention under the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 and the Amsterdam Treaty in 1999. These treaties gave the Union the means to respond to the crises that confronted it on its doorstep and to project its values around the world as a whole, replacing European Political Cooperation (which had begun in 1970 and was formalised in 1986) whereby Member States merely consulted one another with a view to cooperating on major international policy issues.
The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was established under the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which entered into force in 1993, and was strengthened under the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty, which entered into force in 1999. The Amsterdam Treaty created the operational arm for the CFSP, the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), with the potential for later creating a common defence structure. The CFSP was further reinforced under the 2001 Nice Treaty, which entered into force in 2003.
The objectives of the CFSP under the Treaty on European Union are to safeguard the common values, fundamental interests, independence and integrity of the Union; to strengthen the security of the Union; to preserve peace and strengthen international security; to promote international cooperation, and to develop and consolidate democracy and the rule of law, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Since the Amsterdam Treaty, the role of the Council has steadily increased. This Treaty created the post of High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, for 'a personality with a strong political profile', in order to give the CFSP diplomatic weight and continuity. This position is combined with that of Secretary-General of the Council. The Cologne European Council in 1999 designated Javier Solana as the first High Representative/Secretary-General and his mandate was renewed for a second five-year term in 2004.
The High Representative's role, under the Treaty, is to assist the Presidency in formulating policy. He also acts on behalf of the Council in conducting political dialogue with third parties and is Head of the European Defence Agency. Together with the Presidency and the commissioner for external relations, Javier Solana represents the EU in the international Quartet dealing with the Middle East peace process. He has been mandated by the international community to represent it in conducting talks with Iran on its nuclear programme. He has steered the EU's active role in a number of countries in the Western Balkans, including the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, where he led the negotiations on the Ohrid Agreement, as well as in Serbia and Montenegro, between whom he facilitated the Belgrade Agreement, and Kosovo. He has also been actively engaged with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Ukraine and Moldova.
The High Representative is supported by a number of European Union Special Representatives who are appointed by the Council on his recommendation and are responsible for developing and helping to implement the Union's foreign policy objectives around the world. There are currently 11 EUSRs. The High Representative has also appointed several personal representatives dealing with specific issues such as non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, human rights and parliamentary affairs.
EU Special Representatives
A set of structures was set up under the Amsterdam Treaty to support the work of the High Representative. The Policy Planning and Early Warning Unit, in the General Secretariat of the Council, is staffed by national diplomats and experts from the Council and the Commission. It monitors international political developments, alerts the High Representative and the Council to any crises likely to arise and examines their possible consequences for the Union, as well as possible lines of action for the Union to take, enabling it to react more swiftly and effectively.
The Nice Treaty created a standing Political and Security Committee (PSC) comprised of representatives of ambassadorial rank of the Member States. The PSC is the hub around which the CFSP operates. It monitors the international situation in the areas covered by the CFSP and the ESDP and contributes to the definition of policies. It meets at least twice a week and, under the responsibility of the Council, it provides political control and strategic direction of crisis‑management operations.
The Joint Situation Centre (SITCEN) opened on 1 January 2003 and is staffed by civilian and military officials. It provides early warning, situation monitoring and assessment, acts as a round‑the-clock operational contact point and provides facilities for a crisis taskforce.
Formulation and conduct of foreign policy
The European Council (Heads of State and Government of the 27 Member States plus the President of the European Commission) sets out the general principles and guidelines for the CFSP, including for matters with defence implications. It generally meets four times a year.
The six-monthly rotating Presidency of the Council represents the Union in CFSP matters and expresses the position of the Union in international organisations and international conferences. It is assisted by the High Representative who contributes to the formulation, preparation and implementation of European policy decisions. The Presidency, High Representative and President of the European Commission hold summit meetings with the EU's partner countries or regions.
The Council – meeting as the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) and consisting of the foreign ministers of the Member States – convenes once a month and discusses relevant external relations issues as well as institutional issues. It defines and implements the EU's common foreign and security policy on the basis of guidelines set by the European Council. Policy is formulated on the basis of consensus-building and collective problem-solving. The Council's formal positions are published as "conclusions" or "statements" of the Council. Declarations are also issued by the Presidency and the High Representative. Since the late 1990s, EU defence ministers have met regularly. Although there is no formal Defence Council as such, at least one informal meeting of defence ministers is held during each presidency and defence ministers attend one session of the External Relations Council devoted to politico-military issues.
The Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) and the Political and Security Committee (PSC) prepare the work of the Council, with COREPER preparing the work of the Council as a whole and the PSC dealing with political and security issues. Working parties dealing with CFSP, composed of experts from EU Member States and the Commission, meet along geographical lines (covering, for example, the Middle East and the Balkans) and thematic lines (covering, for example, human rights, the UN, and counter-terrorism). They prepare PSC and COREPER meetings. They make joint analyses of the situation in third countries and of multilateral issues and they prepare possible common positions. They draw up proposals for measures to implement the CFSP, such as declarations by the presidency on behalf of the EU, for approval by the PSC and then by the Council. They also formulate recommendations to the PSC for future initiatives in the field of the CFSP.