Common Security and Defence Policy in the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe

Abstract

The European integration process has undergone significant developments in the last fifteen years, specifically in the area of security and defence. To date, the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe represents the highest point of agreement among member states, particularly on the features of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).¹ The rejection of the Constitutional Treaty in France and the Netherlands does not alter this fact.² It is important to remember that no EU member state government challenged the ESDP’s inclusion in the treaty and that most of the ‘no’ voters in the referendums were firmly in favour of the strengthening of the ESDP. Indeed, the inclusion of measures to strengthen the ESDP in the Constitutional Treaty did not introduce any ‘revolutionary’ changes to the legal and institutional framework for that policy, allowing for the possibility of the further development of the ESDP regardless of the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty in France and the Netherlands in 2005. That being said, it is important to examine the changes proposed by the treaty, as doing so provides the basis for a comparison of ‘what could have been’ and ‘what is likely to be’ with regards to the development of the ESDP in the future.