A New European Policy for Development: the Defense Piece

• Author: Pasquale Preziosa
• Position: Gen. S.A., Chief of Staff Italian Air Force
• Pages: 81-89

The EuroAtlantic Union Review, Vol. 1 No. 1/2014

81

A New European Policy for Development: the Defense

Piece

Pasquale Preziosa*

Over the last decade, the European Union (EU) has played a growing role

as a crisis management actor dealing with both regional and global security

problems. With the creation and subsequent expansion of the today Common

Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), the EU has acquired new operational

and institutional instruments for crisis management. Since 2003, when ESDP

became operational, the EU has deployed short of 30 operations, including

many civilian or civilian-military ones (a number of them still ongoing).

e “comprehensive security” model that inspires the EU aims not only to

manage conicts, but also to prevent them. It includes a wide spectrum of

peace-support activities: traditional peacekeeping, policing, promotion of

the rule of law, reform of the security sector, and post-conict institution

building. is approach, which underpins the European Security Strategy

adopted in December 2003, has been reinforced by a number of new

provisions contained in the Lisbon Treaty which, as you all know, entered

into force on December 1, 2009.

But, because of international relations stemming from the Arab Spring,

we experienced one acceleration of which only history holds the secret,

questioning the coherence and consistency of the so far mentioned European

Security architecture and provisions.

* Gen. S.A., Chief of Sta Italian Air Force