The European Community and the security challenges

The EU is likely to go on growing as a defence and security actor under pressure of its existing commitments, influences from the external environment, and also considerations of prestige. This will call for the further evolution of states' related policies notably as regards military integration and specialization, 'homeland security' issues, and ways of better asserting the interests of the region's small and medium-sized states. In parallel with its growing economic power, the EU has created its own foreign and security policy. This enables it to speak – and act – as one in world affairs. Regional conflicts in Europe and elsewhere in the 1990s and the fight against terrorism persuaded EU leaders to create formal instruments for both diplomacy and intervention. Is European Union prepared to meet the new global security challenges of the twenty-first century? This paper seeks answer by identifying those security challenges and examining where deficiencies exist in the Union’s policies and security infrastructure. The introductory paragraph will provide a brief background to the global security context now faced by the European Union and its member states, and will also provide a general overview of the nature of security itself.