Implementation of the Strategic Compass: Opportunities, Challenges and Timelines

In the grand scheme of EU defence policy, this report finds that good progress had been made on improving EU capabilities to respond to hybrid and cyber threats. Defence spending by the EU and member states was already increasing satisfactorily, commendable in light of deteriorating economic conditions at the time. The European Peace Facility (EPF) was found to be an effective tool for providing support to Ukraine in the months after Russia's invasion. Progress was also beginning to be made in partnerships with NATO, the US, and the Indo-Pacific region, though prospects for an agreement with the UK remained unlikely. Challenges remaining for the overall implementation of the Compass were slow decision-making, ensuring complementarity with NATO and maintaining political will.

Though the content of the report pertaining to CSDP mainly covers military CSDP, there are some findings relevant to the civilian sphere. The Rapid Deployment Capacity (RDC), though not set to be operational before 2025, had met the key milestone of deciding operational scenarios. One potential challenge to the RDC is funding, but a solution proposed to this would be using the EPF as a funding tool, since financial solidarity has been a problem in past EU defence initiatives. Finally, a goal that was set for completion in 2023 was to broaden and strengthen the network of human rights and gender advisors for CSDP missions, which had already been achieved at the time of this report. Some deliverables commended by the compass have been implemented since this report's publication, such as the adoption of the 2023 Civilian CSDP Compact.

In the context of the crisis immediately following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the report shows how the EU was able to rally political and financial support for security and defence policy development and faced challenges that it will likely see again in the future.

Reference: European Parliamentary Research Service (2022). Implementation of the Strategic Compass: Opportunities, challenges and timelines. European Parliament.