European Union Security Actorness: the Comprehensive Approach Hampered by Policy Differentiation
The post-Cold War security environment favoured the security actorness of the European Union. Following the 9/11 attacks, the EU adopted an ambitious security approach that confirmed four interconnected dynamics: expansion of the security agenda, externalisation of internal security, internalisation of CSDP, and crosspillarisation. It was an up-grade for the assertion of the European Union as a comprehensive and multifunctional security actor, endowed with autonomy, capability and presence. A major challenge to EU’s security actorness is policy differentiation in the security domain. With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the EU acquired legal personality. This means that, for the first time, external and internal security policies evolve in the framework of an IO. The Treaty also overcame pillarisation, introduced changes in the continued search for the Union’s external coherence and demonstrated the dynamism of the policies of the former second and third pillars. However, the changes that were introduced denote a constructive ambiguity patent in the existence of provisions enabling a comprehensive approach, on the one hand, and of a hidden pillarisation, on the other hand, aggravated by the absence of an explicit concern with the coherence between the external and internal dimensions of security (the missing link).
Ana Paula Brandão . abrandao@eeg.uminho.pt
Centro de Investigação em Ciência Política, Escola de Economia e Gestão, Universidade do Minho
Ana Paula Brandão is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Minho and researcher of the Political Science Research Centre (CICP). She integrates the Directive Board of the Portuguese Political Science Association. She is member of several Study Groups and speaker on European security at the National Defense Institute. Her research interests focus on Security Studies (security theories, European security, Human Security) and European studies (CFSP/CSDP, EU Internal Security, EU actorness, EU political system).