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The Council of the European Union and its members have agreed to a new Civilian CSDP Compact building on the first Compact adopted in November 2018. The new Compact seeks to enhance civilian missions’ effectiveness, impact, flexibility and robustness in order to tackle emerging and future security challenges.

This book, a joint publication between the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) EUISS and the European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management (CoE), presents 38 contributions from EU civilian crisis management experts, which fed into the policymaking process leading to the adoption of the new Civilian CSDP Compact in May 2023.

With this resolution, the Parliament is seeking clarification on the role, ambitions, effectiveness and added value of civilian CSDP, which the new Compact should address. It also calls for a new Compact that is capable of delivering on the goals set out in the Strategic Compass. Key demands include the introduction of more robust mandates, improvements to the decision-making process and an increase in financial resources. The Parliament also mentions new issues which should be integrated into civilian CSDP or deserve a renewed focus.

On 27-28 October 2022, upon invitation from the CoE, representatives from 25 EU Member States (MS), SecDefPol, CPCC, ISP and FPI gathered to continue discussions on a new Level of Ambition (LoA) for civilian CSDP against the backdrop of the negotiations of the new Civilian CSDP Compact to be adopted in May 2023. You will find on this page the report of discussions and additional documents that were shared during the event.

The Council Conclusions renew the Council’s commitment to civilian CSDP and highlight the importance of its missions in the current geopolitical landscape. It outlines the achievements made since the 2018 Civilian CSDP Compact and calls for a new Civilian CSDP Compact structured around four priorities: act rapidly and robustly, secure host countries and civilian CSDP missions against fast-changing threats, invest in more and better capabilities and partner with host countries, third states and international organisations.

This SIPRI research paper examines the progress made in the secondment of personnel and representation of women in CSDP missions since the adoption of the 2018 Civilian CSDP Compact. Its analysis is supported by an extensive review of mission's human resources reports and gender-disaggregated statistics. Based on the current implementation of the 2018 Compact and its lessons learned, it provides recommendations for the 2023 CSDP Civilian Compact.

On 17 June 2022, 21 EU Member States as well as EEAS- and EC-representatives gathered in Berlin for the CoE Civilian CSDP Summer Forum to reflect in an informal setting on the Level of Ambition (LoA) for civilian CSDP, focusing on type, number, size and geographical scope of civilian CSDP missions.

The Strategic Compass, approved on 21 March 2022, says that “we will further strengthen our civilian CSDP through a new Compact that will provide objectives on the type, number and size of civilian missions.” This paper aims to provide an informal baseline of past and present Level of Ambition (LoA) for civilian CSDP in terms of type, number and size in order to facilitate Member States’ informal and formal discussions on the topic as part of agreeing on a new Civilian CSDP Compact in early summer 2023.

The strategy and action plan stems from the 2018 Compact commitment to increase women's representation in civilian CSDP missions. It defines expected outcomes and sets specific targets in a given time frame and identifies four areas of strategic engagement, accompanied by actions and means to monitor progress towards the set targets. It also includes a comprehensive overview of the state of play. The document is useful for anyone interested in the developments in women's equal participation and gender balance in civilian CSDP missions, but it's particularly useful for Member States working on policy-making and implementation on Women, Peace and Security and gender equality more generally.

In this document, the Council of the European Union reaffirms, three years after the adoption of the 2018 Civilian CSDP Compact, its commitment to strengthening the civilian branch of the Common Security and Defence Policy.