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The Common Foreign and Security Policy or CFSP was established as the second of the three pillars of the European Union in the Maastricht treaty of 1992, and further defined and broadened in the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997. It superseded the European Political Cooperation. The CFSP sees NATO responsible for territorial defence of Europe and "peace-making" while since 1999 the European Union is responsible for implementation missions; i.e. peace-keeping, policing of treaties etc.
Objectives According to the treaties, the European Union defines and implements a common foreign and security policy covering all areas of foreign and security policy, the objectives of which shall be: Elements The European Council defines the principles and general guidelines for the CFSP as well as common strategies to be implemented by the EU. On the basis of those guidelines the Council of Ministers adopts joint actions or common positions. The treaties indicate that the function of the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy is exercised by the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, who assists the country holding the Presidency of the European Union in matters coming within the scope of the CFSP. When appropriate he conducts political dialogue with third parties, acting on behalf of the Council of Ministers, at the Request of the Presidency. He also coordinates the work of the European Union Special Representatives. The current High Representative for the CFSP is Javier Solana. Since the Cologne European Council in 1999, the European Security and Defence Policy (or ESDP) has become a significant part of the CFSP. Bodies of the European Union set up within the CFSP context include the following: European Security and Defence Policy The European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) is considered a major element of the CFSP. 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 tasks, peacekeeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking. These are the so-called Petersberg tasks. These tasks are included into the Treaty of the European Union since 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam under Article 17.2. The ESDP is facilitated by three separate institutions that shall provide a certain degree of continuity in the strictly intergovernmental field of CFSP. These three institutions are the Political and Security Committee (PSC), the European Union Military Committee (EUMC), and the European Union Military Staff (EUMS). All three institutions were established in the Itergovernmental Conference of Cologne in June 1999. Next to the respective Operational Headquarters, these institutions will, among other tasks, be responsible to handle the daily business of every European Battlegroup. The European Battlegroup Concept in turn was drafted in late 2003 on a British-French summit meeting and was instantly endorsed by Germany. The Battlegroup Concept was submitted to the PSC and was subsequently presented as a joint initiative of the EU-3 (France, Germany, United Kingdom). Political and Security Committee The Political and Security Committee (PSC or "COPS" from its French acronym) was first established as an interim body in 2000 is described by the Nice European Council Conclusions as the "linchpin" of the European Security and Defence Policy and the Common Foreign and Security Policy. Its responsibilities include the drafting of opinions for the General Affairs and External Relations Council which is one of the configurations of the Council of the European Union, and exercising "political control and strategic direction" of EU crisis-management operations. The committee is a standing body and is composed of national representatives of "senior / ambassadorial level" and meets at least twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays) in Brussels. It is chaired by the member state that holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Past and future The CFSP can be considered the outgrowth and replacement of the European Political Cooperation which had been formally established in the Single European Act (in effect since 1987), and informally introduced already from 1970 in response to the Davignon report. In the 1950s an even earlier attempt at political cooperation through the European Political Community had failed to be launched. According to the European Constitution that will not be ratified, the pillar structure would have been abandoned -- this means that the functions currently considered part of the CFSP will be further incorporated into the functions of the rest of the Union. Among other things the post of the High Representative of the CFSP will be merged with the post of the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, creating the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs who will be at the same time Vice-President of the Commission. As part of the simplification of jargon in the treaties, "common positions" and "joint actions" will be both renamed into "decisions". Timeline Evolution of the Structures of European Union See also | ||||||||
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