Decisions on operational action and union positions: Back to the future?

Abstract

The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed on 13 December 2007 and entered into force on 1 December 2009, has made extensive changes to the legal framework governing the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). In fact, not a single provision of Title V of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) dealing with the CFSP has remained unaffected by the most recent round of treaty revision. In addition to making numerous substantive and institutional amendments, the Lisbon Treaty has also recast the legal instruments available for the conduct of the CFSP. In the past, the Union could rely on three specific instruments in this area: common positions, joint actions and common strategies. In an attempt to simplify this line-up, the Lisbon Treaty has now replaced these three instruments with a single legal act: Union decisions.