Analyzing EU Defence Integration through Problem Definition

This study analyses the dynamics of EU defence integration within the framework of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) by focusing on problem definition. In particular, it highlights a dynamic that has so far received little attention in the literature; the economic one. Three different phases of problem definition are identified within the framework of the ESDP during 1999-2006. The first phase appears in relation to the Cologne decision in 1999 to create an EU military capability. The second is manifested in the European Security Strategy from 2003, which took problem definition within this field a step further. The third, more extensive and forward-looking phase of problem definition is related to the establishment of the European Defence Agency (EDA) and the development of a European defence industry market. This phase is particularly visible in 2006. Arita Eriksson argues that the third phase of problem definition provides a case for explaining EU defence integration by an economic/functionalist dynamic. Defence integration within the EU can thus be said to contain an internal dynamic, seldom recognized in research dealing with European foreign policy. The study also discusses consequences of its findings for Swedish defence policy.