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During 2016, there was a shift in the devel-
opment of defence and security policy which
reflects the profound changes in these issues in
the European region since 2013. This chapter
analyses recent developments in the area of de-
fence policy, particularly as a result of the EU’s
growing role both diplomatically and in estab-
lishing international law, and the prospects that
are opening up as a result of approval of the
“Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy”
in June 2016.
The need to strengthen the Common
Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and to
transform it into a genuinely independent
European defence policy is largely – although
not exclusively – a response to the increasing
threats that Europe has faced in recent years.
The key innovation in this area has been the
transformation of security and defence policy:
while the previous policy (the European Security
and Defence Policy or ESDP) primarily consisted
of overseas crisis management, the new ap-
proach constitutes a comprehensive defence
policy, entailing an obligation of mutual defence
in the event of external aggression against any
EU member state.
In this chapter, we analyse the development
of a European defence policy within the frame-
work of the Global Strategy on Foreign and
Security Policy. This strategy was officially ap-
proved during the week of the Brexit referen-
dum in June 2016, which understandably meant
that it went almost unnoticed at the time.
However – and contrary to expectations – the
UK’s departure from the EU is not proving an
obstacle to implementation of the European de-
fence policy.
The defence policy of the
European Union within the
framework of a Global
Strategy on Foreign and
Security Policy
Francisco Aldecoa Luzárraga