СПІЛЬНА ЗОВНІШНЯ ПОЛІТИКА ТА ПОЛІТИКА БЕЗПЕКИ НА СУЧАСНОМУ ЕТАПІ РОЗВИТКУ ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКОГО СОЮЗУ

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the study of Common Foreign and Security Policy at the contemporary stage of the EU evolution. The article provides the analysis of both initiatives aimed at enhancing this policy, which have already been initiated in recent years and the major directions of the transformation of this policy from the perspective of the necessity for the EU to face the contemporary security challenges at the global and regional level. The article refers to the fact that the European integration process has always had the security dimension as the entire project was started to prevent another war between France and Germany, which had previously been the major reason for two world wars. The EU’s enlargement after the end of the Cold war also had the security dimension as this process reconnected the European continent previously divided by the «iron curtain». The fact that the new EU members from the Central and Eastern Europe simultaneously became members of NATO only stresses this approach. Thus, security has been among the major issue in the EU relations with its neighbouring countries and primarily within the framework of the EU’s Neighbourhood Policy and Eastern Partnership. However, new security challenges for the EU which appeared in the connection with its attempts to enhance its relations with the neighbouring countries emphasized the need to modernize its common and security policy (CFSP), which remains a separate policy area with its special rules and procedures as provided for by the Lisbon Treaty. The aim of the article is to analyze its Common Foreign and Security Policy at the contemporary stage of the evolution of the European Union. The article focuses on the recent initiatives in terms of the reformation and enhancement of this policy area and on the major directions for the implementation of this policy in the context of the existing global and regional challenges. The task of the article is to provide the insight into the evolution of the CFSP from the perspective of both the initiatives for the reformation of this policy area and the EU’s reaction on the faced security challenges of the global and regional scale. The major conclusion of the offered analysis is the thesis about the need for further transformation of CFSP, which includes the formation of the synergy with other policies within EU common foreign policy and the spread for CFSP of the common principles and approaches existing in the constitutional order of the EU. Moreover, the article emphasizes the fact that the mentioned process has already been started, despite the existing limitations set by the rules of the Lisbon Treaty. The Russian aggression in Ukraine, the war in Syria as well as a number of armed conflicts in Northern Africa stressed the growing importance of the security dimension for the EU’s future. At the same time, this has led to the enhanced demands of the EU member states for a more energetic EU policy in terms of ensuring international peace and security. Moreover, the enhancement of the CFSP is nowadays considered to be not only as one of the means to promote and protect the EU’s values on the international arena but also as an instrument for ensuring strategic autonomy of the EU against the background of the escalating regional and global instability. It should be noted that the enhancement of the CFSP was backed by the European Commission, which should have had other priorities due to the institutional reasons. Among the major initiatives aimed at the enhancement of the CFSP one should stress the start of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), and the creation of the European Defence Fund. By forming PESCO the EU member-states agreed for the enhanced military cooperation. The goals of this cooperation include the development of the common military capacities, investments in the common defence projects and the readiness to participate in common military operations initiated by decisions of the EU’s Council. The article consists of two parts. The first one concentrates on the analysis of the evolution of the CFSP after the Lisbon treaty and on the initiatives aimed at enhancing this policy articulated and debated in the recent years. The second part focuses on the major direction of the evolution of this policy in the context of the EU’s practical reaction on the contemporary challenges.