Much ado about little: the EU and human security

Abstract

The EU has become a security and defence actor of importance since the end of the Cold War?particularly since 1998, and the famous St Malo declaration by France and Britain. As Bailes shows in her article in this special issue, the driving forces behind this development are major powers, in this case the two mentioned. This is also my conclusion in my analysis of EU security dynamics.1 The security policy of the EU is not a substitute for national defence policy. Britain has recently decided to renew its Trident nuclear missile capacity and France retains its force defrappe, while both states refuse any discussion of their veto power as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. EU security policy is therefore an 'add-on' for these states, as well as for most others that are NATO members and therefore enjoy a collective defence guarantee. But this does not mean that EU security policy is weak or unimportant. It serves useful purposes in crisis response situations; it is also a vehicle for shaping the international security and defence architecture: both France and Britain seek to shape the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) in ways that benefit their grand political strategy. France seeks an Europe puissante that will have real military power and will therefore be able to balance the United States and under take autonomous military missions; Britain seeks an ESDP that will complement NATO and let NATO take military precedence. Since around 1995 both these states have been particularly active in developing policy in a practical sense. The invention of 'permanent structured cooperation' (Protocol on Permanent Struc tural Cooperation, Article I-4016 and III-213 C1G86/04) allows two or more states to take practical measures in military capacity-building. France and Britain have developed the battle-groups and the European Defence Agency, and have been partners in robust crisis response in the Democratic Republic of Congo under this paragraph. Germany has usually been invited to join in these initiatives, and other