Added: 04/29/2006 |
Common Foreign & Security Policy : objectives and areas of activityThe Amsterdam Treaty, brought into force in 1999, states Common Foreign & Security Policy's objectives as follows:
•to safeguard the common values, fundamental interests, independence and integrity of the Union in conformity with the principle of the United Nations Charter;
•to strengthen the security of the Union in all ways;
•to preserve peace and strengthen international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter as well as the principle of the Helsinki Final Act and the objectives of the Paris Charter , including those on external borders;
•to promote international co-operation;
•to develop and consolidate democracy and the rule of law, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The Treaty also identifies the ways through which the Common Foreign & Security Policy can pursue these goals. The Treaty specifies that the principles and guidelines for the Common Foreign & Security Policy are defined by the European Council. The security policy can adopt joint actions and common positions, which are decided by the General Affairs Council.
The major element of the CFSP is European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). The aim of the ESDP is to deal with humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking. These are the so-called Petersberg tasks.
The activities of the Common Foreign & Security Policy are focused, but not limited to three major areas, which are Conflict prevention, Civilian Crisis Management, and Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.
Conflict prevention measures are both political and financial and include trade policy instruments, humanitarian aids, social and environmental policies, diplomatic instruments and a political dialogue, co-operation with international partners and NGOs, and an external assistance. The European Union and its pillar of the Common Foreign & Security Policy are actively involved in the conflict prevention and strive for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of each action in this area.
The Cologne European Council meeting in June, 1999, placed crisis management tasks at the core of the process of strengthening the European common security and defense policy. They are humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping tasks and combat-force tasks in crisis management, including peacemaking. The other measures comprise the strengthening of police and the rule of law as well as the strengthening of civilian administration and civil protection.
The non-proliferation and disarmament is a vexed question of the global security, which specifically dealt by the EU. The EU deals with the non-proliferation and disarmament at three levels:
•The question is frequently raised and discussed during the political dialogue with third countries;
•The EU implements safeguards systems within the Union and maintain non-proliferation regimes in different countries;
•Assistance programs are designed and implemented to support the realization of disarmament projects.
More information about the European Union and its activities can be found on the website of the Centre for European Security and Disarmament (CESD).
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