EUFOR RCA and CSDP Crisis Management Operations: Back on Track?

Abstract:

Between 2008 and 2013, both the number and scale of operations deployed through the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) shrank significantly. This loss of appetite for EU-led operations not only contrasted starkly with the gluttony displayed during the preceding five years, but also with the Member States' willingness to keep launching operations through other frameworks. At first glance, the launch of the ambitious EUFOR RCA operation in April 2014 seemed to signal the end of this downward pattern, and possibly even a return to the activism of the first five years of EU-led deployments. This article argues the latter scenario is very unlikely. After describing the evolution in the number and scale of CSDP operations, it identifies three impediments that are to blame for the downward pattern in EU-led deployments: the lack of adequate military capabilities, the absence of permanent headquarters and, most importantly, the failure to identify clear strategic objectives for the CSDP. It subsequently argues that the run-up to EUFOR RCA proved that these obstacles are still in place, and evaluates recent efforts at remedying them. From this, it concludes that these impediments are unlikely to be resolved in the near future, making it implausible for EUFOR RCA to be the start of a period of increased operational activity under the CSDP.