Civil-Military Interaction in the European Union: Applying a Comprehensive Approach to CSDP Operations

The European Union has for some time claimed that the organization possesses comparative strength vis-á-vis other organizations in regards to conducting comprehensive peace support operations with a focus on civil-military interaction. This study sets out to investigate how far the European Union has reached in implementing a Comprehensive Approach to its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) operations. This is done by examining the institutional and conceptual conditions for civil-military interaction within the EU. The report concludes that even though substantial institutional development has taken place, the organization has not fully managed to take advantage of all its potential to aply a Comprehensive Approach. The main reason for this is the continuous transformation that the organization has undergone, which has made long-term strategic approaches towards civil-military interaction difficult to establish. The reforms of the Lisbon Treaty provide the EU with new opportunities to establish and implement comprehensiveness. Once the current state of transformation has settled, the organization needs to focus its attention on developing conditions for long-term strategic civil-military interaction. Inaddition to the institutional conditions, this also applies to the conceptual situation. The development of conceptual capability for the implementation of a culture of coordination has currently lagged behind operational requirements. It is however an area of much importance if the EU is going to be able to implement a Comprehensive Approach to its peace support operations.