
Perspectives, responsibilities, ambitions and limits of European defense
1st edition 2015 , edited by Nicolas Clinchamps and Pierre-Yves Monjal, with contributions from Simon Pascal Alain Handy

As its title indicates, this collective work edited by Nicolas Clinchamps and Pierre-Yves Monjal explores the different issues of European defense from the idea of strategic autonomy of the European Union (EU). The book gathers the proceedings of the colloquium organized on November 8, 2013 at the University of Paris 13 on this theme. A work focused on a global perspective that brings together the technical, economic, strategic and political aspects of European defense, one of its central points also touches on the concept of “Europe as a power” that dates back to the 1970s. According to Michel Barnier, former European Commissioner, “Europe as a power” rests on four pillars: economy, currency, security and defense. By asking whether Europe is really built on an idea of power, the authors of the book underline a problematic that is still alive and that frames the different approaches of member states to the notion of “Europe power” and that of “European defense”. Because of the contradiction between the common defense of Europe and the sovereignty of individual states, it is mainly the large actors who attach importance to “European defense”, while other actors prefer to delegate defense to an organization such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In the eyes of the latter, Europe should rather represent a civil power around the influence of its economic and democratic model.
Description
In the absence of autonomy, does European defense make sense? Quasi-absent from the Libyan conflict in 2011 and the Malian conflict in 2012/2013, it symbolizes more than ever the errors of the construction of political Europe. Originally, the Schumann plan of May 9, 1950, took a long-term approach: “Europe will not be built all at once, nor in a comprehensive manner: it will be built through concrete achievements that first create a de facto solidarity. It was first necessary to preserve peace by federating the war economy. The ECSC Treaty of April 18, 1951, was the first step towards federal construction in reverse and paved the way for the EDC Treaty negotiations. After the economic beginning, this passage, undoubtedly too hasty, to a political Europe was rejected by the French Parliament in 1954. For a long time, the construction of Europe remained orphaned by its defence. But in the early 1990s, the war in the Balkans posed a new threat to the very heart of the Old Continent and forced the relaunch of the European defence project. Now a reality, the CSDP is asserting itself through its numerous civilian and military operations. However, it is still struggling to establish itself. A crucial and paradoxically little-known subject, European defense raises many questions. This book takes stock of the situation and proposes as many avenues of reflection to try to answer them.
The book will be of interest to executives and business leaders, consultants and strategy experts, as well as civil servants specialized in defense, armaments and the European Union.
Simon P. Alain Handy is a political analyst at the United Nations and a specialist in peace, post-conflict reconstruction, mediation and international security. He is a former Jeune Expert Associé de la Francophonie, former Visiting Fellow at the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS, Paris 2009) and Senior Executive Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (2011). In 1998, after an executive program at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, he wrote his post-graduate thesis at the Institut de relations internationales et d’études stratégiques (IRIS) in Paris, entitled “Les opérations de maintien de la paix: Une stratégie de politique étrangère pour le Canada”.
Reading Committee
Abstract
Contributors to this book
Foreword
Introduction – Defence: Symbol of the European Paradox Nicolas Clinchamps
The conceptual and institutional framework of the European Union’s strategic autonomy
- Legacy and incentives in the short history of ESDP/CSDP
André Dumoulin
- The concept of common security: towards an effective implementation? Anne Froment
- CSDP and the European Parliament in the light of the Lisbon Treaty Nicolas Clinchamps
The international environment of the European Union’s strategic autonomy
- European security in the 21st century: towards a merger between NATO and CSDP? Jolyon Howorth
- The European Union and the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Fall 2008) Simon P. Alain Handy
- Europe’s external operations and missions: history and assessment Patrice Sartre
- European maritime defense and international repression of piracy Jacobo Ríos Rodríguez
The industrial and financial aspects of the European Union’s strategic autonomy
- The European defence market: between cooperation and harmonisation Stéphane Rodrigues
- The French arms industry: from national requirements to European ambitions Christophe Sinnassamy
- The CSDP budget: a Europe of defence or a Europe of defences? Messaoud Saoudi
- Arms trade standards and the European arms market Anne Millet-Devalle
On the borders of European defence: cooperation and comparison
- What is Lancaster for? Claire Chick
- Franco-German defense cooperation: assessment and perspectives Anne Jeannot
- Elements of comparison between South American and European defense policies: the dream of Simon Bolivar confronted with the current political situation Jean-René Garcia
- The strategic autonomy of the European Union: a synthesis Maurice de Langlois
Conclusion
France and the CSDP: The Need for Assessment, the Need for Prospects Pierre-Yves Monjal