In a new Expert Opinion, our Senior Advisor Aaro Suonio argues that civilian CSDP contributes to resilience not by ‘running’ critical services, but by strengthening the institutions, coordination mechanisms, and professional standards that allow partner states to provide security and justice under pressure. 

In practical terms, resilience asks a simple question: when a society is stressed, can public authority still function — and can citizens still trust it? 

Civilian CSDP missions such as EUAM Ukraine and EUPM Moldova show how this matters in different ways: from supporting institutional continuity, policing, rule of law, and accountability in wartime and recovery contexts, to helping partners address hybrid threats, cyber challenges, and foreign information manipulation and interference. 

The paper identifies four practical resilience themes for civilian CSDP: 

• Resilient institutions and public trust; 

• Crisis management that works across government; 

• Hybrid resilience, including cyber and FIMI as ‘trust attackers’; 

• Preparedness as a mindset, not a document. 

It also argues that civilian CSDP needs a stronger results language. Trainings and workshops matter, but resilience is ultimately demonstrated in performance: faster crisis decision-making, better coordination under stress, fewer institutional breakdowns, higher public trust, and reduced vulnerability to manipulation. 

As preparedness and resilience move higher on the EU security agenda, civilian CSDP should be understood as a practical resilience instrument — one that strengthens partner-state capacity, legitimacy, and the ability to act under pressure. 

Read the full Expert Opinion here