‘Brusselisation’ and the emergence of a strategic culture in the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)

Project Context

With the 10th anniversary of the British-French St. Malo summit approaching in December 2008 it is time to take stock on how European cooperation in security and defense has developed since then. While integration in the area of defense was taboo in the first decades of the European integration process, the past decade has seen progress on many fronts. The EU has conducted and is currently undertaking several civilian and military operations globally and many crucial institutional developments have taken place. Increasing amounts of knowledge and expertise are being developed in the Brussels-based intergovernmental ESDP machinery. A dense institutional network with a variety of actors between the national and EU-level, as well as between the national capitals, is emerging. Surprisingly, research has not fully captured these dynamic developments. While European cooperation in security and defense has attracted considerable attention, particularly in the media, it has not received the same level of attention elsewhere. Therefore, it is high time for a comprehensive in-depth assessment of ESDP policy-making that is empirically rich, conceptually ambitious and policy-relevant.

Project Objectives

To this end, the project tackles two related sets of questions: First, what kind of decision-making logic governs the policy and decision-making of ESDP? Second, is there a “European strategic culture” emerging and if so, what are the crucial factors enabling and/or hindering this development? In tackling these subjects, the project will provide a detailed picture of whether the EU is on its way to becoming a strategic security actor, and of the logics and dynamics governing the growing ESDP machinery. Based on several case studies, the investigation of the ESDP machinery and ESDP actors at the national and European levels applies an institutionalist approach focused around the notions of "socialisation" and "Brusselisation". The project explores the extent to which ESDP policy-making is guided by a particular logic of appropriateness and a new style of decision-making and if this leads to the development of a European "strategic culture." Prospective results promise to shed light on a variety of European defense policy issues.