|
|
|
|
European Security and Defence Policy and its Limits
By Matúš Korba
Abstract
The Balkan wars, first in Bosnia, then in Kosovo, seriously put into question the weak position of the European Union as a security actor. Failures of the Europeans to end these conflicts dealt a serious blow to the project of European integration. The European Union had failed to produce a common strategy to Bosnia and Kosovo and the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) didn't work. It was a leadership of the USA and NATO military operations which led to the end of the Balkan wars. Kosovo also provided a striking confirmation of European military weaknesses. This conflict clearly pictured European dependence on the US military power and demonstrated that without making an effort to improve its military capabilities, EU's influence as a security actor would continue to be very limited.
These events initiated creation of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). At the June 1999 European Council in Cologne, the member states stated their determination that the EU shall play its full role in the international security. To that end, they intended to give the EU the necessary means and capabilities for autonomous crisis management actions, backed up by credible military forces. In December 1999, the European Council in Helsinki set out the ESDP process's Headline Goal objectives. The aim was put at the EU's disposal Rapid Reaction Force capable of carrying out all Petersberg missions, including the most demanding, in operations up to army corps level (60.000 troops deployable in 60 days, operational readiness in 2003).