Consensus building in ESDP: The lessons of Operation Artemis

Abstract

This paper examines how EU Member States reach agreement in the area of European Security and Defence Policy, including how differences are resolved and priorities aligned. The case study, Operation Artemis conducted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2003, is used to test the key explanatory hypotheses of normative institutionalism. It is argued that normative entrapment played a significant role, although the cooperative bargaining aspects were significantly modified in this case by the awareness that one larger EU Member State was willing to assume the bulk of the burdens.