Common Security and Defence Policy

The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

The CSDP involves the deployment of military or civilian missions to preserve peace, prevent conflict and strengthen international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter. Military missions are carried out by EU forces established with secondments from the member states' armed forces. The CSDP also entails collective self-defence amongst member states as well as a Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in which 26 of the 27 national armed forces pursue structural integration (the exception being Malta). The CSDP structure – headed by the Union's High Representative (HR/VP), Kaja Kallas, and sometimes referred to as the European Defence Union (EDU) in relation to its prospective development as the EU's defence arm – comprises:

the European Commission's Defence Industry Directorate-General
the External Action Service's (EEAS) Crisis Management and Planning Directorate (CMPD) and permanent Operation Headquarters (OHQs) for command and control (C2) at the military/civilian strategic level, i.e. the MPCC and CPCC.
a number of Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) preparatory bodies – such as the Military Committee (EUMC)
four agencies, including the Defence Agency (EDA).

The EU command and control structures are much smaller than the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Command Structure (NCS), which has been established for territorial defence. It has been agreed that NATO's Allied Command Operations (ACO) may be used for the conduct of the EU's missions. The MPCC, established in 2017 and to be strengthened in 2020, is the EU's first permanent military OHQ. In parallel, the European Defence Fund (EDF, established in 2017) marks the first time the EU budget is used to finance multinational defence projects.

Decisions relating to the CSDP are proposed by the High Representative, adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council, generally requiring unanimity, to be then implemented by the High Representative.

History

The post-war period saw several short-lived or ill-fated initiatives for European defence integration intended to protect against potential Soviet or German aggression: The Western Union (WU, also referred to as the Brussels Treaty Organisation, BTO) and the proposed European Defence Community (EDC) were respectively cannibalised by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and rejected by the French Parliament. The Western European Union (WEU) succeeded the WU in 1955, but was largely overshadowed by NATO.

In 1970 the European Political Cooperation (EPC) brought about the European Communities' (EC) initial foreign policy coordination. Opposition to the addition of security and defence matters to the EPC led to the reactivation of the WEU in 1984 by its member states, which were also EC member states.

European defence integration gained momentum soon after the end of the Cold War, partly as a result of the EC's failure to prevent the Yugoslav Wars. In 1992, the WEU was given new tasks, and the following year the Treaty of Maastricht founded the EU and replaced the EPC with the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) pillar. In 1996 NATO agreed to let the WEU develop a so-called European Security and Defence Identity (ESDI). The 1998 St. Malo declaration signalled that the traditionally hesitant United Kingdom was prepared to provide the EU with autonomous defence structures. This facilitated the transformation of the ESDI into the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) in 1999, when it was transferred to the EU. In 2003 the EU deployed its first CSDP missions, and adopted the European Security Strategy identifying common threats and objectives. In 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon introduced the present name, CSDP, while establishing the EEAS, the mutual defence clause and enabling a subset of member states to pursue defence integration within PESCO. In 2011 the WEU, whose tasks had been transferred to the EU, was dissolved. In 2016 a new security strategy was introduced, which along with the Russian annexation of Crimea, the British withdrawal from the EU and the election of Donald Trump as US president have given the CSDP a new impetus.

Deployments

thumb|right|upright=1.5|Since 2002, the European Union has intervened abroad thirty-five times in three different continents.

The first deployment of European troops under the ESDP, following the 1999 declaration of intent, was in March 2003 in the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia). Operation Concordia used NATO assets and was considered a success and replaced by a smaller police mission, EUPOL Proxima, later that year. Since then, there have been other small police, justice and monitoring missions. As well as in the Republic of Macedonia, the EU has maintained its deployment of peacekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of Operation Althea.

Between May and September 2003 EU troops were deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during "Operation Artemis" under a mandate given by UN Security Council Resolution 1484 which aimed to prevent further atrocities and violence in the Ituri Conflict and put the DRC's peace process back on track. This laid out the "framework nation" system to be used in future deployments. The EU returned to the DRC during July–November 2006 with EUFOR RD Congo, which supported the UN mission there during the country's elections.

Geographically, EU missions outside the Balkans and the DRC have taken place in Georgia, Indonesia, Sudan, Palestine, and Ukraine–Moldova. There is also a judicial mission in Iraq (EUJUST Lex). On 28 January 2008, the EU deployed its largest and most multi-national mission to Africa, EUFOR Tchad/RCA. The UN-mandated mission involves troops from 25 EU states (19 in the field) deployed in areas of eastern Chad and the north-eastern Central African Republic in order to improve security in those regions. EUFOR Tchad/RCA reached full operation capability in mid-September 2008, and handed over security duties to the UN (MINURCAT mission) in mid-March 2009.

The EU launched its first maritime CSDP operation on 12 December 2008 (Operation Atalanta). The concept of the European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) was created on the back of this operation, which is still successfully combatting piracy off the coast of Somalia almost a decade later. A second such intervention was launched in 2015 to tackle migration problems in the southern Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR Med), working under the name Operation SOPHIA.

Most of the CSDP missions deployed so far are mandated to support security sector reforms (SSR) in host-states. One of the core principles of CSDP support to SSR is local ownership. The EU Council defines ownership as "the appropriation by the local authorities of the commonly agreed objectives and principles". Despite EU's strong rhetorical attachment to the local ownership principle, research shows that CSDP missions continue to be an externally driven, top-down and supply-driven endeavour, resulting often in the low degree of local participation.

Structure

The CSDP involves military or civilian missions being deployed to preserve peace, prevent conflict and strengthen international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter. Military missions are carried out by EU forces established with contributions from the member states' armed forces. The CSDP also entails collective self-defence amongst member states as well as a Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in which 26 of the 27 national armed forces pursue structural integration. The CSDP structure, headed by the Union's High Representative (HR/VP), Kaja Kallas, comprises:

the Defence Industry Directorate-General of the European Commission
relevant sections of the External Action Service (EEAS) — including the Military Staff (EUMS) with its so-called Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC)
a number of Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) preparatory bodies – such as the Military Committee (EUMC)
four agencies, including the European Defence Agency (EDA).

While the EU has a command and control (C2) structure, it has no standing permanent military structure along the lines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO), although it has been agreed that ACO resources may be used for the conduct of the EU's CSDP missions. The MPCC, established in 2017 and to be strengthened in 2020, does however represent the EU's first step in developing a permanent military headquarters. In parallel, the newly established European Defence Fund (EDF) marks the first time the EU budget is used to finance multinational defence projects. The CSDP structure is sometimes referred to as the European Defence Union (EDU), especially in relation to its prospective development as the EU's defence arm. it replaces the European Security Strategy of 2003. The EUGS is complemented by a document titled "Implementation Plan on Security and Defense" (IPSD).

Deterrence theory is applied to deter aggressors as one of the core mandates of Common Security and Defence Policy, yet lacks credibility due to insufficient resources.

Forces

A new Action Plan on military mobility and cyber resilience was released 10 November 2022.

National

The CSDP is implemented using civilian and military contributions from member states' armed forces, which also are obliged to collective self-defence based on Treaty on European Union (TEU).

Five EU states host nuclear weapons: France has its own nuclear programmes, while Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands host US nuclear weapons as part of NATO's nuclear sharing policy. Combined, the EU possesses 300 warheads, and hosts between 90 and 130 US warheads. Italy hosts 70-90 B61 nuclear bombs, while Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands 10-20 each one. The EU has the third largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, after the United States and Russia.

Expenditure and personnel

The following table presents the military expenditures of the members of the European Union in euros (€). The combined military expenditure of the member states amounted to €223.4 billion in 2018. This represents 1.4% of European Union GDP. European military expenditure includes spending on joint projects such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and joint procurement of equipment. The European Union's combined active military forces in 2016 totaled 1,410,626 personnel.

In May 2025, EU member states agreed to launch a €150bn loans-for-arms fund backed by the bloc’s shared budget. The initiative will allow EU countries to borrow from Brussels and spend on weapons systems and platforms through joint procurement.

Guide to table:

All figure entries in the table below are provided by the European Defence Agency for the year 2017, except for Germany's personnel figure, which is for 2016. Figures from other sources are not included.
The "operations & maintenance expenditure" category may in some circumstances also include finances on-top of the nations defence budget.
The categories "troops prepared for deployed operations" and "troops prepared for deployed and sustained operation" only include land force personnel.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right; width:100%;"

! class="unsortable"| Member state

! style="width:14.5%;" | Expenditure (€ mn.)

! style="width:14.5%;" | Per capita (€)

! style="width:14.5%;" | % of GDP

! style="width:14.5%;" | Operations & maintenance expenditure (€ mn.)

! style="width:14.5%;" | Active military personnel

! style="width:14.5%;" | Land troops prepared for deployed and sustained operations

!Reserve personnel

| style="text-align:left;"|

Guide to table:

Ceremonial vessels, research vessels, supply vessels, training vessels, and icebreakers are not included.
The table only counts warships that are commissioned (or equivalent) and active.
Surface vessels displacing less than 200 tonnes are not included, regardless of other characteristics.
The "amphibious support ship" category includes amphibious transport docks and dock landing ships, and tank landing ships.
Frigates over 6,000 tonnes are classified as destroyers.
The "patrol vessel" category includes missile boats.
The "anti-mine ship" category includes mine countermeasures vessels, minesweepers and minehunters.
Generally, total tonnage of ships is more important than total number of ships, as it gives a better indication of capability.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right; width:100%;"

! class="unsortable" | Member state

! data-sort-type="number" style="background-color:#ffc0c0; width:7.6%;" | Fleet carrier

! data-sort-type="number" style="background-color:#ffc0c0; width:7.6%;" | Amphibious assault ship

! data-sort-type="number" style="background-color:#ffc0c0; width:7.6%;" | Amphibious support ship

! data-sort-type="number" style="background-color:#f3f781; width:7.6%;" | Destroyer

! data-sort-type="number" style="background-color:#f3f781; width:7.6%;" | Frigate

! data-sort-type="number" style="background-color:#f3f781; width:7.6%;" | Corvette

! data-sort-type="number" style="background-color:#c0ffc0; width:7.6%;" | Patrol vessel

! data-sort-type="number" style="background-color:#ddfbff; width:7.6%;" | Anti-mine ship

! data-sort-type="number" style="background-color:#c0c0ff; width:7.6%;" | Missile sub.

! data-sort-type="number" style="background-color:#c0c0ff; width:7.6%;" | Attack sub.

! data-sort-type="number" style="width:7.6%;" | Total

! data-sort-type="number" style="width:7.6%;" | Tonnage

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || || || || || || || 0 || 0

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || 2 || || 2 || 5 || || || 9 || 10,009

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || 1 || || 4 || 3 || 1 || 10 || || || 18 || 15,160

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || || || 5 || 2 || || || 7 || 2,869

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || || ||5

| || || || 5

||0

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || || || || || || || 0

|| 0

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || 5 || 4 || || 9 || || || || 18 || 51,235

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || || || 2 || 4 || || || 6 || 3,633.5

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || || 4 || 4 || 12 || || || 20 || 5,429

| style="text-align:left;"| || 1 || 3 || || 13 || 11 || || 20 || 18 || 4 || 6 || 76 || 319,195

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || 3 || 7 || 5 || 8 || 15 || || 6 || 44 || 82,790

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || 9 || || 13 || || 33|| 4 || || 11 || || || || || || || 8 || || || || 8 || 11,219

| style="text-align:left;"| || 2|| (1) || 3 || 4 || 16 || 5 || 11 || 10 || || 8 || 59 || 303,411

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || || || || 5 || || || 5 || 3,025

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || || || 4 || 4 || || || 8 || 5,678

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || || || || || || || 0 || 0

| style="text-align:left;"|  || || || || || || || 2 || || || || 2 || 1,419

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || 2 || 4 || 2 || || 4 || 6 || || 4 || 22 || 116,308

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || 5 || || 2 || 1 || 3 || 19 || || 3 || 28 || 19,724

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || 5 || 7 || 7 || || || 2 || 23 || 34,686

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || 3 || 7 || 6 || 5 || || || 21 || 23,090

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || || || || || || || 0 ||0

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || || || 1 || 1|| || || 2|| 435

| style="text-align:left;"|  || 1 || (1) || 2|| 5 || 6|| || 23 || 6 || || 3 || 46 || 148,607

| style="text-align:left;"| || || || || || || 6 || || 11 || || 5 || 22 || 14,256

| style="text-align:left;"| || 4 || 4 || 22 || 34 || 75 || 38 ||156||136 || 4 ||48||514 ~516 ||1,309,110 ~1,309,110

Land forces

thumb|The [[Leopard 2 main battle tank]]

Combined, the member states of the European Union maintain large numbers of various land-based military vehicles and weaponry.

Guide to table:

The table is not exhaustive and primarily includes vehicles and EU-NATO member countries under the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE treaty). Unless otherwise specified.
The CFE treaty only includes vehicles stationed within Europe, vehicles overseas on operations are not counted.
The "main battle tank" category also includes tank destroyers (such as the Italian B1 Centauro) or any self-propelled armoured fighting vehicle, capable of heavy firepower. According to the CFE treaty.
The "armoured fighting vehicle" category includes any armoured vehicle primarily designed to transport infantry and equipped with an automatic cannon of at least 20 mm calibre. According to the CFE treaty.
The "artillery" category includes self-propelled or towed howitzers and mortars of 100 mm calibre and above. Other types of artillery are not included regardless of characteristics. According to the CFE treaty.
The "attack helicopter" category includes any rotary wing aircraft armed and equipped to engage targets or equipped to perform other military functions (such as the Apache or the Wildcat). According to the CFE treaty.
The "military logistics vehicle" category includes logistics trucks of 4-tonne, 8-tonne, 14-tonne or larger, purposely designed for military tasking. Not under CFE treaty.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right; width:100%;"

! style="width:11.5%;" | Member state

! style="background-color:#ffc0c0; width:16.7%;" | Main battle tank

! style="background-color:#ffc0c0; width:16.7%;" | Armoured fighting vehicle

! style="background-color:#c0ffc0; width:16.7%;" | Artillery

! style="background-color:#f3f781; width:16.5%;" | Attack helicopter

! style="background-color:#c0c0ff; width:16.7%;" | Military logistics vehicle

| style="text-align:left;"| || 56 || 364 || 90 || ||

| style="text-align:left;"| || 75 || 283 || 127 || 10 ||

| style="text-align:left;"| || 134 || 169 || 234 || 15 || 398

| style="text-align:left;"|