The democratic control of military power Europe1

Abstract

The development of a ESDP has raised concerns over the EU's identity as a ‘civilian power’. Whereas concerns over a gradual replacement of civilian policy instruments by military force have been most prevalent, this article focuses on a neglected dimension of the civilian power-concept, namely on the repercussions of the ESDP for the democratic control of security and defence policy. It argues that the Europeanization of defence politics leads to a democratic deficit because national parliaments' capacity to control executive decisions to use military force has been weakened by the ESDP and neither the European Parliament nor the former WEU assembly has been able to compensate for this loss of parliamentary control. This democratic deficit may not only damage the legitimacy of EU-led military missions but may also compromise the EU's ability to lead by virtuous example.