11 Contemporary Military Challenges, September 2021 – 23/No. 3
  Sodobni vojaški izzivi, september 2021 – 23/št. 3
In May this year, a process called the Conference on the Future of Europe was 
launched, which serves as a platform in which the citizens of the European Union 
can take part. In this context, we all have the possibility to make suggestions and 
give opinions. We can participate as individuals or in groups; with a professional, 
scientific or purely personal contribution we have the possibility to participate in 
discussions and events or organize an event in our community on one of the priority 
topics. All this takes place on special common websites of the EU and the Member 
States.
At the same time the Strategic Compass is being developed at the institutional level 
of the European Union. It is a document that is designed to unite, harmonize and 
unify all proposals, discussions and starting points on the future of the Union so that 
they can be implemented to the greatest extent possible.
The above-mentioned facts served as the starting point for this thematic issue of 
Contemporary Military Challenges, which, in the context of the debate on the 
future of the European Union, specifically focuses on the area of Common Security 
and Defence Policy. It was designed in cooperation with the Nova univerza-New 
University as part of the project entitled an Integral Theory of the Future of the 
European Union (J5-1791), led by Matej Avbelj and financed by the Slovenian 
Research Agency.
Much has been written on European security and defence policy. What can be summed 
up on this occasion is the fact that as early as 1998, the then French President and 
the British Prime Minister met in Saint-Malo and signed a statement on the creation 
of a European security and defence policy, including a European autonomous 
military force capable of operating in cases where NATO would not opt for military 
participation. A year later, as a direct result of the Saint-Mal summit in Helsinki, the 
»main goal« was set, setting the year of 2003 as the target date for the establishment 
of the European armed forces with up to 60,000 troops. However, the European 
EDITORIAL
THE FUTURE OF THE EU’S COMMON 
SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY
Liliana Brožič DOI:10.33179/BSV.99.SVI.11.CMC.23.3.00
 12 Sodobni vojaški izzivi/Contemporary Military Challenges
Union has still not reached this main goal. It was again revived by the EU Global 
Strategy in 2016 with some new approaches to old challenges. Consequently, some 
of the better known activities that were formed as its result include the European 
Defence Fund, Permanent Structured Cooperation, Coordinated Annual Review on 
Defence and others.
The debate on the future of the Union’s common security and defence policy is 
mostly determined by the changes in the international security environment that 
affect the European Union and the events in and around it. The analysis of security 
threats and the risks associated with them represent the first step in creating a future 
strategic framework, to be defined by the debaters at national levels and coordinated 
at the European level. The key achievements will include coordinated agreements in 
the field of achieving the »main goal« of 2003, namely the European Union as an 
independent actor in the field of security and defence. It is expected to have more 
geopolitical power, which, as Josep Borrel, High Representative of the European 
Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, put it in 2019, will »also know how 
to use the language of power«. The path to this goal will by no means be easy. 
Coordination between the 27 members in the field of security and defence is a 
demanding process. In addition, it needs to be properly positioned in relation to 
NATO’s strategic security partner. However, its placement in the defence planning 
process of the Member States will be the most demanding and important.
The Republic of Slovenia is chairing the Council of the European Union at a time 
of important changes for the Union, which may be decisive in the future. With 
this thematic issue of the Contemporary Military Challenges, we want to add to 
Slovenia’s contribution in this process.
Igor Senčar writes about the importance of the European Union’s resilience in 
a cognitive sense. In the article The cognitive aspects of Europe’s security and 
defence challenges he uses the case of Russia’s annexation of Crimea to describe 
the development of a phenomenon that was collectively perceived, understood and 
learnt from. Modern European society, with its prosperity and high democratic 
standards, also has shortcomings that need to be acknowledged in order to increase 
societal resilience in the future.
One of the ways in which we could achieve greater power of the Union is the greater 
role of its community or its institutions. This is proposed by Katarina Vatovec in 
the article The communitarization of the European Union’s defence policy. Changes 
have to be applied also in the way the decisions are made, including the voting 
method, which should be a majority one in order to increase the effectiveness of this 
policy.
In the article European security and defence: a breakthrough or simply muddling 
through, Dick Zandee notes that changes should be made in the EU security and 
defence. The long-standing agreement and coordination in this area, which is 
Liliana Brožič
 13 Sodobni vojaški izzivi/Contemporary Military Challenges
reflected primarily in its documents and not in its actions, must end. To this end, the 
author proposes the concrete changes needed to achieve this goal.
Twenty years of the European Union’s activities in the field of international missions 
and operations is a proof that the EU is an important international player. The details 
of its activities are presented by Aleksandra Kozioł in her article Missions and 
operations as a tool for shaping EU’s global engagement. She notes that the Covid 
19 epidemic has shifted the Union’s focus from the global to more internal affairs of 
the Union itself, which calls to a reflection on the future in this area as well.
As part of Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Jelena Juvan 
discusses The future of the common security and defence policy and small member 
states. She writes about what a small country can achieve in this process given the 
fact that the Union as a whole has failed to implement its decisions from the past. 
However, it is crucial whether the area of the common security and defence policy is 
designed in such a way that it could represent a response to modern security threats.
EDITORIAL: THE FUTURE OF THE EU’S COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY