European Defence in the wake of the Lisbon Treaty. Egmont paper, no. 21, May 2008

Angelet, Bruno, and Vrailas, Ioannis. (2008) European Defence in the wake of the Lisbon Treaty. Egmont paper, no. 21, May 2008. [Policy Paper]

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Abstract

The Lisbon Treaty contains a significant number of important innovations in the fields of CFSP and ESDP. As we have seen, those are institutional rather than related to decision-making. We maintain that those could potentially be of great consequence, provided however that the modalities of implementation are carefully thought over. The new post of HR/VP will need to be filled by a “Superman” or a “Bionic Woman”. Multiple-hatting will probably facilitate synergies but also absorb more energy in the search for internal compromise, at the expense of strategic thinking and outward-looking action. Staffs from the Commission, the Council and the Member States will have to be amalgamated in a hurry within the EEAS, but this presupposes that differing working methods and mentalities will be overcome. This may lead to a lack of focus, not only in the realm of foreign policy but also in the field of European defence, even though they both need much closer attention.

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