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The EU Common Security and Defense Policy: Moving Away From Democracy Support

Reports, articles, briefs Public 2025 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

This think tank article reflects on the recent evolution of CSDP away from the original goals of peacebuilding and strengthening democratic governance and towards Security Sector Reform (SSR), counterterrorism, and border management. The author endorses restoring priority to democracy support in CSDP.

When the EU began the deployment of CSDP missions, the original priorities were democracy and governance, as seen in early missions like those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Aceh. There are still some efforts to integrate democracy-related elements in Eastern Europe, such as Rule of Law and human rights commitments. However, in the changing security landscape following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has begun prioritising security concerns instead across most theatres. This has made the policy more pragmatic for EU hard-power interests, focusing on SSR, counterterrorism, and border management.

Examples of this include the establishment of the European Peace Facility, which funds military capacity building and the provision of lethal weaponry, including for non-democratic governments. The future of CSDP will likely continue to balance these competing priorities, with a need for reflection on how to better integrate democratic values into security missions. 

The ideas discussed in this article can serve policymakers responsible for CSDP planning, and in particular Civilian CSDP planning, since these missions could be a valuable tool to implement more democracy and human rights activities to counterbalance security-focused efforts as endorsed by the author.

Reference: Farinha, R. (2025). The EU Common Security and Defense Policy: Moving Away From Democracy Support. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

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