The EU’s Role in Crisis Management: The Case of the EUMM

Abstract

Since its establishment and throughout the formal and informal dimensions of its integration process, the European Union (EU) has always been confronted with issues of peace and violence, not only internally but also externally. However, the specific context of emergence of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)/European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) was characterised by evolving security threats which included terrorism, failed states and violent intra-state conflicts, calling for a different approach in what concerns the EU’s response capacity to crisis and violence within and outside its borders. Besides, the EU has also the difficult task of seeking consensus among its member states with regard to why, where and how to deploy peace missions, responding both to internal political and economic dynamics, as well as to the overall institutional goal of promoting security within and beyond its borders. This chapter analyses, therefore, the deep interconnections between the process of decision-making and the external elements that influence it.