Dokumenty - Think Tank - Evropský parlament

Briefing - ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 - 03-04-2025

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 22:00:00 GMT

The European Commission's ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030, presented in March 2025, proposes to leverage over €800 billion in defence spending through national fiscal flexibility, a new €150 billion loan instrument (SAFE) for joint procurement, potential redirection of cohesion funds, and expanded European Investment Bank support. It also aims to mobilise private capital through the savings and investments union. ReArm Europe has sparked debate. While many welcome its ambition and the EU's growing role in defence, concerns remain about democratic oversight, defence market fragmentation, and economic sustainability. Alternative ideas, such as creating a new Rearmament Bank, or a Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, have gained traction. These could offer low-interest loans and risk guarantees to support European and allied defence investment. Experts caution that, while the ReArm Europe Plan is an important political signal, it must be followed by practical measures to ensure impact. They stress the need to pool procurement, prioritise European-made equipment, and build a more integrated defence industrial base. Others argue the plan should go further, including options for grant-based financing and more robust governance structures. The coming months will be crucial in determining whether ReArm Europe can deliver a truly coordinated and resilient European defence effort. During a March 2025 debate, the majority of political groups in the European �Ϸ��վ voiced strong support for boosting Europe's defence, backing the ReArm Europe Plan while calling for a long-term strategy. Many urged enhanced strategic autonomy, secure access to resources, and continued aid to Ukraine. Concerns were raised over the sidelining of �Ϸ��վ through use of Article 122 TFEU and the risk of over-reliance on emergency measures. Some warned that defence spending must not come at the expense of green, social, and R&D funding.

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Briefing - �Ϸ��վ in EU external action - 01-04-2025

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 22:00:00 GMT

Based on its Treaties, the European Union (EU) has developed a multifaceted external action policy, and is seen as an important actor far beyond its borders. Through its institutions and Member States, the EU is active in international trade, humanitarian assistance, economic, financial, and technical and development cooperation, as well as through its common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and common security and defence policy (CSDP). Increasingly, the external dimension of internal EU policies has also grown, notably in the economic, climate, energy, migration and digital fields. The role of the European �Ϸ��վ in the EU's external action has increased significantly since the 1990s, and especially after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon (2009). Although �Ϸ��վ's powers remain relatively limited compared to other EU institutions involved in external action, especially with regard to CFSP and CSDP decision-making (which remain mostly intergovernmental), it nevertheless has considerable legislative, budgetary, agenda-setting and soft powers. Several of �Ϸ��վ's powers cut across all policy areas. Notably, it proactively supports multilateralism and conducts extensive parliamentary diplomacy. �Ϸ��վ contributes to policy framing through its debates, resolutions, recommendations, own-initiative reports and statements. It holds hearings, workshops, debates and organises missions. Members of the �Ϸ��վ exercise scrutiny of the executive, by holding hearings of and posing questions to the European Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU's High Representative and the Council. �Ϸ��վ co-legislates on financing the EU's external action and controls EU institutions' expenditure, including the EEAS, through the discharge procedure. The �Ϸ��վ acts on an equal footing with the Council when adopting numerous acts in the fields of trade, development and humanitarian aid, and often external dimensions of internal policies. Since 2009, �Ϸ��վ's consent to legally binding international agreements is mandated by the Treaties.

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Ve stručnosti - Annual report on implementation of the common foreign and security policy, 2024 - 26-03-2025

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 08:56:08 GMT

The EU's common foreign and security policy (CFSP) contributes to the Union's objectives of preserving peace, strengthening international security, promoting international cooperation, and developing and consolidating democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. �Ϸ��վ's Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) adopted its annual report on the implementation of the CFSP on 30 January 2025. �Ϸ��վ will hold a debate and vote on the report during its April plenary session.

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Briefing - Conscription as an element in European Union preparedness - 19-03-2025

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Once considered an issue of the past, conscription has increasingly made its way back onto European, EU and global policy agendas in recent years, mainly since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. As EU defence policy has steadily progressed, with new procurement initiatives and defence industry reinforcement, a parallel discussion on the EU's armed forces is evolving in the context of the EU's common security and defence policy (CSDP). Europe's civilian and military preparedness and readiness has also come under the spotlight recently, as highlighted by the report presented in October 2024 by former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö. Opinion polls in some Member States also show growing support for the reintroduction of national service or conscription. Mounting threats to European security, fears of transatlantic disengagement, as well as the position of the new United States administration and potential peace plans for Ukraine involving the presence of European troops, has raised awareness of the need to ready Member States' armed forces for the most extreme military contingencies. The conscription landscape across the EU is diverse. National defence is primarily carried out by professional armed forces, but conscription is becoming increasingly relevant. Some EU countries retained conscription practices beyond the end of the Cold War, while others reintroduced conscription modalities following Russia's 2022 invasion. Peacetime conscription policies differ among Member States in, among other things, the number of conscripts, the length of service, the level of compensation provided, and the size of the reserve forces. The Niinistö report underscored the potential importance of conscription in developing a holistic 'total defence' concept that connects military and civil defence, while promoting a 'whole-of-society' approach to crisis response and preparedness. It also proposes increasing structured exchanges between Member States to identify national service and conscription model best practices, potentially facilitated by the EU. Some experts have highlighted the benefits of implementing conscription, while others are sceptical of poorly trained and ill-equipped conscript armies. �Ϸ��վ has repeatedly underlined the limited number of personnel devoted to CSDP missions and operations, highlighting issues related to force generation.

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Ve stručnosti - Future of European defence - 06-03-2025

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Significant progress in bolstering EU defence has been made in recent years. However, the shift in United States (US) policy on Ukraine has prompted European leaders to convene several times, to coordinate their response. �Ϸ��վ is due to discuss the future of European defence during the March plenary session.

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Briefing - Women in foreign affairs and international security: An increasingly salient debate - 04-03-2025

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 23:00:00 GMT

In a context of international turbulence, rising armed conflict and other evolving threats, the debate on the participation and role of women in foreign affairs and international security is a timely and relevant one. In particular, growing attention is being paid to imbalances in the representation of women in leadership and other key positions in the area of foreign and security policy, and to the growing body of evidence regarding the positive effect of including women and a gender perspective in several key areas. While gaps persist, women's representation in foreign affairs and security has increased both in the European Union (EU) and at United Nations (UN) level. Women's role in peacekeeping is receiving particular attention, as research has consistently shown that gender equality contributes to peace and higher security, and that peace negotiations involving women have a better chance of being sustainable and effective. This year marks the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which established the 'women, peace and security' (WPS) agenda. Since then, more WPS-related resolutions have been adopted, widening the scope and breadth of gendered peace and security. These resolutions have been instrumental in changing the philosophy and rhetoric around conflict and gender equality, thereby challenging the international community to do more. Initiatives are being implemented at EU level, including through the 2018 EU strategic approach to WPS. However, critics underline that a lot remains to be done, as women and gender perspectives continue to be under-represented in the field of foreign and security policy across the world. This is a further update of an EPRS briefing originally published in September 2019.

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Ve stručnosti - US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and from the WHO - 05-02-2025

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 16:37:35 GMT

On the first day in office of his second term, US President Donald Trump signed a number of executive orders (EOs), including EOs withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change and the World Health Organization (WHO). The Council and the Commission will make statements on the withdrawals during �Ϸ��վ's February plenary session.

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Briefing - The EU's new bilateral security and defence partnerships - 24-01-2025

Thu, 23 Jan 2025 23:00:00 GMT

The Strategic Compass, adopted by the 27 EU Member States in March 2022 – only weeks after the onset of Russia's unjustified and unprovoked aggression on Ukraine –emphasised the need for robust partnerships, for the EU to be able to achieve its objectives in the area of security and defence. Alongside 'acting' (operations), 'securing' (resilience) and 'investing', 'partnering' is one of the four main pillars of the Compass. The document itself outlines specific targets and deadlines to measure progress in this area. While the EU has partnered with other security and defence actors (essentially states and international organisations) in the past, a new model of tailored security and defence partnership was launched shortly after the adoption of the Compass, as a reinforced framework for enhanced partnership. To date, the EU has signed six such partnerships – with (by date of signature) Norway, Moldova, South Korea, Japan, Albania and North Macedonia, and more are envisaged. While the partnerships vary in content, depending on the assessed mutual interests of the EU and each individual partner, some ten areas of cooperation are common to all six. �Ϸ��վ has highlighted the significance of the Strategic Compass's partnership dimension and, in particular, the value of security and defence dialogues with partners from the Western Balkans, the Eastern Partnership, as well as with key partners in strategic maritime areas such as the Southern Neighbourhood and the Indo-Pacific. �Ϸ��վ has underlined that cooperation with countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Ukraine, Georgia, the Western Balkans, Japan, Australia and certain African countries serves as a key element of the common security and defence policy. In 2023, it called for deeper military and defence cooperation with Japan and South Korea, and for closer cooperation with partners in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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Ve stručnosti - EU civilian and defence preparedness - 11-11-2024

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 09:14:21 GMT

On 14 November, former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö is due to present his report 'Safer Together: Strengthening Europe's Civilian and Military Preparedness and Readiness' to �Ϸ��վ in plenary. The European Commission President requested the report in March 2024, and it was published on 30 October.

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Briefing - White paper on the future of European defence - 05-11-2024

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 08:46:21 GMT

In her political guidelines presented on 18 July 2024, European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen identified defence as a priority and a key sector in completing the single market. An important part of that effort will be building a 'European Defence Union'. To frame the new approach and to identify defence investment needs, von der Leyen committed that the new Commission would present a white paper on the future of European defence within the first 100 days of taking office. Subsequently, the Commissioners designated to take on the High Representative/Vice President portfolio (Kaja Kallas, Estonia) and the portfolio for Defence and Space (Andrius Kubilius, Lithuania) have been tasked with producing the paper. The white paper is expected to predominantly address defence sector capability issues, industrial competitiveness and investment needs. It should also frame the overall approach to EU defence integration, with the aim of strengthening the EU's ability to respond to threats, particularly in the context of Russia's continuing aggression in Ukraine, combined with evolving geopolitical challenges to the south and increased military capabilities of other global actors. Among other things, the white paper should outline the path towards key initiatives such as a European air shield to bolster air defence across the continent and expanded cyber-defence capabilities; closer EU-NATO cooperation; more efficient EU Member State defence spending; the reduction of external dependencies in defence procurement; and increased intra-EU collaboration in industrial, innovation, procurement and production issues. Experts widely agree that a key challenge to address is how to increase financing for the defence industry with, inter alia, the provision of incentives for investors and the creation of economies of scale; a clear assessment of the EU's defence needs; and coordination among the many EU defence initiatives proposed in recent years. �Ϸ��վ first called for an EU white paper on security and defence as early as 2016.

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Studie - Mapping threats to peace and democracy worldwide: Normandy Index 2024 - 09-09-2024

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 09:31:34 GMT

Conflict is rarely confined to the geographical space in which wars take place. The increasingly global effects – human, material and political – of wars and conflicts make a view of the level of threats to peace, security and democracy around the world more important than ever. The 'Normandy Index' has presented an annual measurement of these threats since the 2019 Normandy Peace Forum. The results of the 2024 exercise suggest the level of threats to peace is the highest since the Index began, confirming declining trends in global security resulting from conflict, geopolitical rivalry, growing militarisation and hybrid threats. The findings of the 2024 exercise draw on data compiled in 2023-2024 to compare peace – defined on the basis of a given country's performance against a range of predetermined threats – across countries and regions. A series of 63 individual country case studies To complete the picture of the state of peace today. Designed and prepared by the European �Ϸ��վary Research Service (EPRS), in conjunction with and on the basis of data provided by the Institute for Economics and Peace, the Normandy Index is produced in partnership with the Region of Normandy. The paper forms part of the EPRS contribution to the 2024 Normandy World Peace Forum.

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Briefing - Financing the European defence industry - 02-09-2024

Sun, 01 Sep 2024 22:00:00 GMT

Although the European defence industry is generally competitive, more than a decade of underinvestment has kept it from reaching its full potential. That has been the result of decisions made by Member States since the end of the Cold War regarding their budgets and policies in a completely different geopolitical environment. The significant under-investment in European defence is demonstrated by the severe difficulties the European defence technological and industrial base (EDTIB) has in obtaining finance. Member States' defence budgets will continue to be the EDTIB's main source of funding; however, more collaborative actions and spending would enhance output and efficiency. So far, EU defence initiatives relating to EU competences, such as the European Defence Fund, have been funded through the EU budget, which does not fund any operations that have military or defence implications. Weapons deliveries to Ukraine and other partners are therefore funded by the off budget European Peace Facility. The new initiatives directly benefit the EDTIB, but the funds have so far not been sufficient to address the investment gap and strengthen the EU's security and defence capabilities. In response, the first-ever European defence industrial strategy (EDIS) was adopted on 5 March 2024. In terms of defence financing, the EDIS proposals include: inviting the European Investment Bank (EIB) to review its lending policy in 2024; establishing a European defence industry programme (EDIP); and substantially increasing the funds for EU defence in the next MFF. Separately, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton has proposed a debt-financed €100 billion fund to boost joint procurement of defence products. At their meeting in June 2024, EU leaders invited the Commission, EU Member States and the Council to advance work on filling critical capability gaps in the EDIS and in the EDIP. Leaders also invited the High Representative and the Commission to present options for funding to strengthen the EDTIB and close critical capability gaps. Furthermore, they welcomed the EIB's security and defence action plan, while calling on the Bank to implement it promptly and continue to assess and further adapt, as appropriate, its defence industry lending policy. The EDIS, the EDIP negotiations, and finding ways to increase EDTIB financing will be major issues for the 2024-2029 legislature.

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Studie - Mapping threats to peace and democracy worldwide: Normandy Index 2023 - 30-08-2023

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 07:13:50 GMT

With war having returned to the European continent, measuring the level of threats to peace, security and democracy around the world – as the 'Normandy Index' does – is more important than ever. The annual Index was presented for the first time at the Normandy Peace Forum in June 2019, as a result of a partnership between the European �Ϸ��վ and the Region of Normandy. The Index has been designed and prepared by the European �Ϸ��վary Research Service (EPRS), in conjunction with and on the basis of data provided by the Institute for Economics and Peace. This paper sets out the findings of the 2023 exercise, which draws on data compiled in 2022, and explains how the Index can be used to compare peace – defined on the basis of a given country's performance against a range of predetermined threats – across countries and regions. It is complemented by 61 individual country case studies, derived from the Index. The paper forms part of the EPRS contribution to the 2023 Normandy World Peace Forum. It is accompanied by two papers, one on the EU's contribution to peace and security in 2022, and the other on EU peace-building efforts in Iraq.

Zdroj : © Evropská unie, 2023 - EP

Studie - Peace and Security in 2023: Overview of EU action and outlook for the future - 18-07-2023

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 09:42:23 GMT

Russia's war on Ukraine has caused the European Union (EU) to intensify its work for peace and security. The Peace and Security Outlook, produced by the European �Ϸ��վary Research Service (EPRS), seeks to analyse and explain the European Union's contribution to the promotion and restoration of peace and security internationally, through its various external policies. This study provides an overview of the issues and current state of play. It looks first at the concept of peace and the changing nature of the geopolitical environment, as European security faces the most tangible military threat since the end of the Cold War. Linking the study to the Normandy Index, which measures threats to peace and democracy worldwide based on the EU Global Strategy, each chapter of the study analyses a specific threat to peace, and presents an overview of EU action to counter the related risks. The areas discussed include proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, democracy support, conflict prevention and mitigation in fragile contexts, the security impacts of climate change, cyber-attacks, disinformation, and terrorism, among other issues'. A parallel paper, published separately, focuses specifically on the state of play of the EU's relations with Iraq. EPRS has drafted this study as a contribution to the Normandy World Peace Forum, taking place in September 2023.

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Briefing - Brazilian democracy in the aftermath of 8 January - 16-02-2023

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 23:00:00 GMT

On 8 January 2023, far-right supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed the presidential palace, the Supreme Court and the Congress in Brasilia. The events, widely acknowledged as echoing the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, took place only a week after the inauguration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as President of Brazil for the third time; Bolsonaro, who did not concede defeat in the October 2022 election, was notably absent from the inauguration. Brazil is one of the biggest democracies in the world, albeit a relatively young one, and the largest in Latin America. Yet, experts have pointed to a crisis of trust in democracy throughout the past decade, due – among other things – to corruption and failure by successive governments to provide public goods. The events have raised concerns about democracy in Brazil and globally, and have reinforced the risks born from a climate of heightened polarisation. They have also highlighted the inflammatory role of social media and the need to address societal divisions. The European Union has condemned the anti-democratic acts of violence, reiterated its full support for President Lula Da Silva, and for the Brazilian democratic system, and expressed solidarity with the democratic institutions targeted by this attack. On 19 January 2023, the European �Ϸ��վ adopted a resolution also expressing solidarity with the Lula government and Brazilian institutions and urging supporters of ex-President Bolsonaro to accept the democratic outcome of the elections. �Ϸ��վ also welcomed the investigation to identify and prosecute those involved and highlighted a recent decision taken by the Brazilian Supreme Court to approve the federal prosecutors' request to investigate Bolsonaro.

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Studie - Mapping threats to peace and democracy worldwide: Normandy Index 2022 - 09-09-2022

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 22:00:00 GMT

With war having returned to the European continent, measuring the level of threats to peace, security and democracy around the world – as the 'Normandy Index' does – is more important than ever. The annual Index was presented for the first time on the occasion of the Normandy Peace Forum in June 2019, as a result of a partnership between the European �Ϸ��վ and the Region of Normandy. The Index has been designed and prepared by the European �Ϸ��վary Research Service (EPRS), in conjunction with and on the basis of data provided by the Institute for Economics and Peace. This paper sets out the findings of the 2022 exercise, which draws on data compiled in 2021, and explains how the Index can be used to compare peace – defined on the basis of a given country's performance against a range of predetermined threats – across countries and regions. It is complemented by 60 individual country case studies, derived from the Index. The paper forms part of the EPRS contribution to the 2022 Normandy World Peace Forum. It is accompanied by two papers, one on the EU's contribution to peace and security in 2022, and the other on EU peace-building efforts in the Eastern Neighbourhood.

Zdroj : © Evropská unie, 2022 - EP

Studie - Peace and Security in 2022: Overview of EU action and outlook for the future - 14-07-2022

Wed, 13 Jul 2022 22:00:00 GMT

This is the fifth Peace and Security Outlook produced by the European �Ϸ��վary Research Service (EPRS). The series analyses and explains the European Union's contribution to the promotion of peace and security internationally, through its various external policies. The study provides an overview of the issues and current state of play. It looks first at the concept of peace and the changing nature of the geopolitical environment as European security faces the most tangible military threat since the end of the Cold War. Russia's war on Ukraine compounds the challenges to peace and security already accentuated by the coronavirus crisis. The study follows the logic of the annual series, by focusing on the promotion of peace and security in the EU's external action. Linking the study to the Normandy Index, which measures threats to peace and democracy worldwide based on the EU Global Strategy, each chapter of the study analyses a specific threat to peace and presents an overview of EU action to counter the related risks. The areas discussed include violent conflict, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, climate change, cyber-attacks, disinformation, and terrorism, among other issues. The EU's pursuit of peace is understood as a goal embodied in several EU policies, including development, democracy support, humanitarian assistance, security, and defence. The study concludes with an outlook for the future. A parallel study, published separately, focuses specifically on EU peace-building efforts in the Eastern Neighbourhood. The studies have been drafted as a contribution to the Normandy World Peace Forum scheduled for September 2022.

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Briefing - Domino effects of the war - 03-06-2022

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 22:00:00 GMT

The war Russia unleashed on Ukraine has global repercussions, beyond the death toll and the human tragedy in Ukraine itself, and the resulting refugee flows and wider destabilising effects on Europe's east. This infographic depicts some of the economic consequences of the war, for Europe, but also the rest of the world.

Zdroj : © Evropská unie, 2022 - EP

Briefing - Climate Change and International Security - 03-06-2022

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 22:00:00 GMT

The risks climate change poses to global stability and international security are becoming increasingly palpable. Today, in Europe and beyond, countries are increasingly aware of the challenges entailed by global warming and environmental degradation. The European Union has been at the forefront of raising climate concerns for over two decades. Among the sectors affected, security and defence is not spared: climate change not only acts as a threat multiplier, but also impacts capabilities and operational considerations. In the field of security and defence, the changing environmental conditions are creating a necessity for international actors, including the EU, to expand their conflict prevention tools, including defence-related instruments, and reassess existing policies in the light of new realities. In that context, the EU is in a process of reconceptualising the link between climate change and defence, and is endeavouring to increase renewable energy use, foster energy efficiency, reduce the carbon footprint of the defence forces, and avoid exacerbating climate-induced conflicts and crises. The European Green Deal, along with the 'concept for an integrated approach for climate change and security', the climate change and defence roadmap and initiatives like the Strategic Compass, are setting ambitious goals for the EU's external and climate action for years to come. �Ϸ��վ's Committee on Foreign Affairs has adopted a report welcoming the climate change and defence roadmap. Among other things, the report underlines the link between climate change and state fragility; emphasises that the armed forces need to be more energy efficient; and calls for the climate-security nexus to be included as a new priority area for the United Nations–European Union strategic partnership on peace operations and crisis management. Members are due to vote on the report during �Ϸ��վ's plenary session in June.

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Ve stručnosti - Third-country participation in EU defence - 31-03-2022

Wed, 30 Mar 2022 22:00:00 GMT

Cooperation with third countries is embedded in several dimensions of EU security and defence policy. The Strategic Compass, adopted in March 2022, dedicates one of its main sections to the role of partnerships.

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Ve stručnosti - Implementation of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) - 10-02-2022

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 15:30:00 GMT

The EU's common foreign and security policy (CFSP) is the basis for the Union's external action, including the promotion of EU values internationally. The 2021 annual report of the Committee for Foreign Affairs on the implementation of the CFSP names five areas that play a central role in the EU's external action: strengthening multilateral partnerships; improving decision-making and making use of the EU's soft and hard powers alike; interlinking the EU's external and internal actions; developing regional strategies; and fostering the parliamentary dimension of CFSP. �Ϸ��վ will vote on the report during its February 2022 plenary session.

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Ve stručnosti - Annual report on the common security and defence policy (CSDP) - 10-02-2022

Wed, 09 Feb 2022 23:00:00 GMT

The EU's common security and defence policy (CSDP) is the main framework through which the Member States work together to address conflicts and crises and strengthen international peace. During the February 2022 plenary session, the European �Ϸ��վ will vote on its 2021 annual report on implementation of the CSDP. The report, adopted by the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), focuses on the development of the EU's security and defence doctrine through the Strategic Compass, CSDP missions and operations, crisis management, resilience, capabilities, partnerships and parliamentary oversight of CSDP.

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Ve stručnosti - Strategic Compass: Towards adoption - 26-11-2021

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 23:00:00 GMT

On 15 November 2021, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission (HR/VP) Josep Borrell presented the draft European Union (EU) 'Strategic Compass'. Amidst geopolitical competition, rising threats, accelerated technological development, climate crisis and global instability, the compass aims to facilitate a 'common sense of purpose' in Union security and defence, strengthen action, deepen partnerships, and stimulate innovation. On 30 November 2021, �Ϸ��վ's Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) will hold an exchange of views on the state of play of the Strategic Compass.

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Briefing - Where will the EU's Strategic Compass point? - 07-10-2021

Wed, 06 Oct 2021 22:00:00 GMT

As Member States encounter increasingly complex security threats, momentum to push for EU initiatives to deliver on the Union's level of ambition in defence has emerged. A process aimed at bringing clarity, guidance and incentives to completing the common security and defence policy, the Strategic Compass is a first for the European Union. Announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her 2021 State of the European Union speech, a European Defence Summit is expected to take place in February 2022. It is envisaged that, following its much-anticipated presentation, EU leaders will endorse the Compass in March 2022. European Council President Charles Michel branded 2022 'the year of European defence'. Launched in 2020, developing the Strategic Compass entails a complex strategic reflection, threat analysis and strategic dialogue among Member States. It is structured around four interlinked thematic baskets: crisis management, defence capabilities, resilience, and partnerships. Unlike the 2016 EU Global Strategy, which saw the EU institutions take the lead, this process is Member State-led, with the institutions playing a supporting and coordinating role. The main challenge of the Strategic Compass appears to be, on the one hand, providing clarity in the EU's objectives (defining the ends, the ways and the means), and on the other, ensuring Member State 'buy-in'. The latter is essential for the follow-up to the process, the findings from which should ideally be reflected in national defence planning processes. The process provides opportunities to improve links between the operational and capability dimensions of EU defence initiatives and external crisis management, to consolidate existing strategic partnerships and rethink the configuration of new ones, and to provide a concrete vision for the commitments made since 2016 to boost the EU as a defence actor. However, experts caution that the Compass risks remaining a paper exercise, should the political will to follow up not materialise.

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Studie - Mapping threats to peace and democracy worldwide: Normandy Index 2021 - 06-07-2021

Mon, 05 Jul 2021 22:00:00 GMT

The Normandy Index, now in its third year, aims at measuring the level of threat to peace, security and democracy around the world. It was presented for the first time on the occasion of the Normandy Peace Forum in June 2019, as a result of a partnership between the European �Ϸ��վ and the Region of Normandy. The Index has been designed and prepared by the European �Ϸ��վary Research Service (EPRS), in conjunction with and on the basis of data provided by the Institute for Economics and Peace. This paper sets out the findings of the 2021 exercise, and explains how the index can be used to compare peace – defined on the basis of a given country's performance against a range of predetermined threats – across countries and regions. It is complemented by 51 individual country case studies, derived from the Index. The paper forms part of the EPRS contribution to the Normandy World Peace Forum 2021. It is accompanied by two papers, one on the EU's contribution to peace and security in 2021, the other on the EU's relations with Turkey.

Zdroj : © Evropská unie, 2021 - EP