The common foreign and security policy of the European Union

Structure and history

The European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) has developed gradually over the years, driven by the growing need to act as a coherent whole in world politics.

The CFSP was first established in 1993 with the Maastricht Treaty, which for the first time incorporated the objectives of the common foreign policy into the Treaty. The 1999 Amsterdam Treaty created the post of High Representative for the CFSP, to be filled by the Secretary-General of the Council of the EU, in order to improve the effectiveness and visibility of the foreign policy of the European Union. Javier Solana held the post for the next ten years.

The Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force in 2009, introduced two major changes to the CFSP with the aim of further strengthening the Union’s foreign and security policy and making it more coherent. Firstly, the post of High Representative for the CFSP was merged with that of European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, elevating it to the status of Vice-President of the Commission, and a number of functions previously held by the rotating Presidency (e.g. chairing the monthly EU Foreign Ministers’ meeting) were added. This step significantly increased the impact, coherence, and visibility of the European Union’s foreign and security policy. The first High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the Union after the Lisbon Treaty was Catherine Ashton. Federica Mogherini then took office, followed by Josep Borrell at the end of 2019.

Secondly, the European External Action Service, set up as the EU’s diplomatic service, was set up to support the work of the High Representative. It employs officials recruited from the institutions of the European Union as well as staff sent from the diplomatic services of the Member States. The European External Action Service has a network of more than 130 delegations that promotes European values and interests around the world.

The decisions and activities of the CFSP are prepared in EU Council working groups, from where they pass through the Political and Security Committee (PSC) to the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper II) and from there to the monthly Foreign Affairs Council. The Foreign Affairs Council is composed of the foreign ministers of the Member States and is chaired by the High Representative. The final decision on CFSP matters rests with the European Council, where the heads of state and government of the 27 Member States define policy principles and general guidelines.

The CFSP operates on the principle of intergovernmentalism. With a few exceptions, foreign and security policy decisions require the consent of all EU Member States.

Objectives of the European Union’s common foreign and security policy:

• protecting the EU’s values, fundamental interests, security, independence, and integrity;
• strengthening and supporting democracy and the principles of the state governed by the rule of law, human rights, and international law;
• maintaining peace, preventing conflicts, and strengthening international security;
• supporting the development of developing countries, with the primary objective of eradicating poverty;
• encouraging the integration of all countries into the world economy;
• assisting areas affected by disasters;
• helping develop international measures to ensure sustainable development;
• promoting an international system based on stronger multilateral cooperation and a world order of good governance.

Instruments of the common foreign and security policy

The EU has a number of instruments at its disposal to conduct its foreign policy and convey its messages. Political instruments include Council decisions and conclusions, statements by the Union or the High Representative, démarches, and political dialogues with countries. EU Special Representatives have been appointed to address problematic issues or important areas. Financial support is available for CFSP activities. The EU can use sanctions to influence policies that violate international law or human rights, the state governed by the rule of law, and democracy.

One of the most visible pillars of the CFSP is the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), in which the EU conducts civilian missions and military operations. The missions and operations are designed to prevent, resolve, or mitigate the consequences of conflicts, and usually involve joint disarmament operations, humanitarian and rescue missions, military advice and assistance, peacekeeping, or crisis management.

External relations of the European Union

The Common Security and Defence Policy is only one part of the EU’s foreign policy relations. The latter also covers the pre-accession process for the candidate countries, the European Neighbourhood Policy, external trade, and development cooperation. The European Neighbourhood Policy was launched to strengthen the EU’s relations with its neighbours to the east (through the Eastern Partnership) and to the south (through the Union for the Mediterranean) and seeks political convergence, economic integration, and the mobility of people between the Community and neighbouring countries.

Estonia has been an active supporter of the Eastern Partnership policy, having also established the Estonian Centre of Eastern Partnership, which combines a training centre for the EU’s Eastern Partners and a think tank dealing with Eastern Partnership issues.