European Parliament defence report: Involving civilian and military personnel in EU security policies will be key

The report puts forward recommendations to the European Commission/External Action Service and the Member States on how the EU’s security and defence doctrine should be further developed in the context of a new Strategic Compass, CSDP missions and operations, crisis management, resilience, capabilities, partnerships and parliamentary oversight of CSDP.

The European Parliament regularly assesses the developments the EU makes in the field of CSDP. And in 2021, they have been considerable. A so-called ‘Strategic Compass’ – “a comprehensive analysis on key threats and challenges to the Union, its Member States and citizens, including global and regional threats, conflicts in our neighbourhood by state and non-state actors” – has been developed, and the CSDP budget has been increased.

The adopted European Parliament report calls among others for a permanent high-level dialogue on Russia and improved relations with China. It underlines the fundamental importance of the transatlantic partnership, and it invites the EU to further bolster democratic alliances for the protection of the rule of law and human rights.

Thomas Sohst, President of CESI’s Expert Commission ‘Defence’ said: “Not least because of the increasing geopolitical instability in the past years, EU defence policy has moved into the spotlight. But the EU needs to further step up its efforts in order to become a credible and resilient global defence actor. Representatives of military and civilian personnel of the armed forces should be consulted and involved in all the stages of the design and implementation of defence policies. Moreover, if the EU wants to lead more successful civilian and military missions abroad, we must face the fact that more budget is needed.”