The European Union And Crisis Management

A state-of-the-art consideration of the European Union's crisis response mechanisms based on comparative fieldwork in a number of cases.

In less than a decade, Europe has witnessed a series of large-scale natural disasters and two major terrorist attacks. Growing concern about the trans-national effects of these incidents has caused the EU Member States to seek more multilateral cooperation. As a result, a system of common arrangements for handling large-scale emergencies or disasters has emerged, which, due to its quick and ad-hoc development, may seem almost impenetrable to newcomers to the field. This book seeks to provide a much-needed overview of disaster and crisis management systems in the EU. It provides a basic understanding of how EU policy has evolved, the EU’s mandate, and above all, a concise and hands-on description of the most central crisis management arrangements. Written by some of Europe’s main experts and consultants in the field, this book represents a unique and comprehensive source of information for everyone involved or interested in the European Union crisis management system. "This book will quickly become an indispensable resource for two groups: Practitioners will enjoy its accessible and comprehensive style. Academics curious about this emerging field will turn to it for an introductory overview. As someone who closely studies this field, I find the book engaging, detailed, and accurate, and I read every line with great interest. The authors are to be commended for the quality of research that went into this work." Mark Rhinard, Senior Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI)

This book provides a unique and comprehensive overview of the European Union's many crisis management capacities and explains their origins.

After its failure to bring an end to the Balkan wars of the 1990s, the European Union has worked hard to close the infamous ‘capabilities-expectations gap’ in the field of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). In a very short timeframe, the EU agreed to the following: the institution of new political and military bodies; peculiar structures and procedures to ensure political guidance and strategic direction; principles for consultation and cooperation with non-European allies and other international organisations such as the UN and NATO; measures to enhance the Union’s military and civilian capabilities; and the adoption of an acquis sécuritaire, including a European Security Strategy. The most striking manifestation and raison d’être of the ESDP is the European Union’s capacity to move beyond the paper security structures and back its diplomatic efforts by action on the ground. With the launching of more than twenty ESDP operations in barely five years' time, the EU has affirmed its operational capacity in ESDP. While most of the early ESDP missions were fairly successful, they have also revealed shortfalls, bottlenecks as well as broader issues in crisis management. In this book, prominent academics and leading practitioners explore this wide variety of policy and legal aspects of ESDP and present the lessons which should be taken to heart now that the EU is facing its ‘maturity test’ as an international crisis manager in high-risk theatres around the world. The book will be an important tool for decision-makers, officials and academics involved in the further development of ESDP. Its contents incorporate the text and potential effects of the Lisbon Treaty and the ECJ’s judgment in the Small and Light Weapons/ECOWAS case. Dr Steven Blockmans is a Senior Research Fellow in EU law and Deputy Head of Research at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, The Hague. ​

This handbook comprehensively explores the European Union’s institutional and policy responses to crises across policy domains and institutions – including the Euro crisis, Brexit, the Ukraine crisis, the refugee crisis, as well as the global health crisis resulting from COVID-19. It contributes to our understanding of how crisis affects institutional change and continuity, decision-making behavior and processes, and public policy-making. It offers a systematic discussion of how the existing repertoire of theories understand crisis and how well they capture times of unrest and events of disintegration. More generally, the handbook looks at how public organizations cope with crises, and thus probes how sustainable and resilient public organizations are in times of crisis and unrest.

This book assesses the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for the European Union (EU), as well as its response in dealing with an overarching, multidimensional crisis with consequences extending beyond public health safety to political, economic, legal, and institutional arenas. It argues the pandemic represents a symmetric crisis cutting across countries with different social, economic and political characteristics and which yet - despite favouring cooperative solutions at the supranational level - has largely been met with initial responses of a national, even local, nature. So, how well did the EU perform as a crisis manager in the pandemic crisis? This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and readers of crisis, pandemic and health management, European Union politics and governance.

This report, written as part of a wider review of human rights in EU foreign policy, describes and assesses the current decision-making structures and procedures for EU military, police and civilian crisis management missions throughout the world. EU interventions or missions in non-member countries are a relatively recent development, and have largely been undertaken to ensure more effective co-ordination of humanitarian, peace-keeping, and peace building efforts by Member States in response to international conflicts and crises - and perhaps also to project the role of the EU as a major actor on the global stage. EU missions may involve the deployment of military forces in peace-keeping or peace enforcement operations, the deployment of military and police personnel in a preventive role or with a view to maintaining public order or controlling criminal activity, or they may involve the provision of civilian support for the rebuilding or redevelopment of the rule of law in countries where governmental structures have broken down. This report examines the incidence of these interventions, as well as their interaction with other bodies such as the UN, NATO, the African Union and voluntary coalitions, and the complex diplomatic and military negotiations leading to particular operations. The focus on assistance reflects the primary responsibility of the EU not to act independently of the UN and other international bodies but to provide support and assistance to the wider international community. The main aim of the report is not to provide a detailed analysis of the success or failure of particular missions, but is to describe the often complex and confusing structures developed over the past decade and to assess the past, present and future of the EU's responsibility to intervene in international crises.

Conflict prevention and crisis management has become a key activity for the EU since the creation of the Common Security and Defence Policy in 1999. The rapid growth of this policy area, as well as the number of missions deployed beyond the EU’s border raise important questions about the nature of the EU’s international role and its contribution to international security. The Contributions to EU Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management analyze European conflict prevention and crisis management in terms of the EU’s evolving global role, its institutions and its policies. The volume analyzes the EU’s position in relation to the US, the UN and other regional security organizations, and applies three different institutionalist perspectives – historical, rational choice and sociological institutionalism - to explain the increasing institutionalization of EU crisis management. It also critically analyzes the application of EU policies in West Africa, Afghanistan and the Caucasus. Providing a comprehensive analysis of EU crisis management, the volume explores what role EU conflict prevention and crisis management plays in a European and a global context. Offering a comprehensive and original contribution to the literature on EU foreign and security policy, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, international relations and security studies.