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The European Security and Defence Policy or ESDP is considered a major element of the Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar of the European Union. The ESDP was initiated by provisions of the Treaty of Amsterdam which stipulated the progressive framing of a common security and defence policy that could deal with humanitarian and rescue task, peacekeeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking. These are the so-called Petersberg tasks.
Elements of the ESDP
The following permanent political and military bodies were established after the approval of the Nice European Council.
- Political and Security Committee or PSC
- European Union Military Committe or EUMC
- European Union Military Staff or EUMS
Missions in the ESDP context
Some of the operations launched by the EU in the ESDP context are the following.
- Past Operations
- Current Operations
- Future Operations
Predecessors of the ESDP
- European Defence Community: The EDC was a defence community proposed in the 1950s soon after the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community. The founding treaty failed to be ratified and so the project was abandoned.
- Western European Union: The WEU was created after the failure of the EDC, an organisation composed of those state members of both NATO and EU. Partially dormant, its tasks have been in part transferred to the EU. It's not yet certain whether the WEU will remain an independent organisation or be eventually fully merged into the EU.
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