A EUROPEAN WAY OF WAR
A EUROPEAN WAY OF WAR

Summary/Abstract: Through establishment of ESDP/CSDP in late 1990s, following the French-British Declaration in Saint-Malo, the EU has developed a defence and security dimension in its own right and has managed to launch more than 20 civilian missions and military operations. While ESDP/CSDP is to be seen as the operational arm of the EU’s foreign policy, this essay tried to identify whether the Union had also its own way of waging wars, by that actually meaning to conduct crisis management operations based on an integrated / comprehensive approach. With a large array of instruments at its disposal, civil and military ones, the EU seems quite well prepared to respond to international crises, although of a limited scope and at the rather lower intensity spectrum. With the Treaty of Lisbon providing for a mutual assistance clause and due to the recent statements on a possible US retrenchment, the Union seems to have to assume greater responsibilities on the international stage. While the economic crisis requires innovative solutions to compensate for the cuts in MS’ defence budgets, the EU should try to demonstrate that it has both the will and the ability to strengthen its role as a meaningful security actor and complement NATO’s actions in this field.

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