Documentos CIDOB Seguridad y defensa; 5

A study of the present and future of European Union defence, taking as its starting point an analysis of the evolution of the European security and defence policy, from its beginnings right after the Second World War up until today, and an evaluation of the different aspects of this policy, paying special attention to some of the military capabilities of the land-based forces, which, according to the authors, deserve more attention than they have received so far. In the face of a complex, unforeseeable panorama marked by the most recent war experiences and in a probable future scenario dominated by asymmetrical conflicts, the EU must, within the area of the European Defence Strategy and the ESDP, make a greater effort to provide itself with a military capability in accordance with the significance of the possible scenarios of conflict in which it could get involved in the future. In this context, the experts finish this essay with a series of recommendations and assert that, despite the fact that “the existing commitments to turn the European Union into a political actor with a certain military capability have been incessant since Helsinki, the erratic attitude of drawing up a military pseudo-policy that corroborates it has been one of the major hurdles impeding the Union from being valued in an international system in which power and interest are basic elements”.

Pedro Fatjó and Guillem Colom, Autonomous University of Barcelona.

issn: 1696-9960 (print edition)
issn: 1697-9923 (online edition)

82 pp.

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