Written by Wout Declercq, Rita Barbosa Lobo, Carlos Bravo Navarro, Anaïs Quintart, Mihaela Ungureanu
The European Union’s foreign policy affairs and security and defence matters have always been the areas in which progressing and ad- vancing has proved to be a challenging task. Despite the integration achievements accom- plished in other EU fields, such as the Sin- gle Market, the European Monetary Union, or the Common Agriculture Policy; the cul- tural, identity, historical, and geographical differences between the MS have prevented the consolidation of a common strategic cul- ture. In this context, as the main international events of the last years have proved, the EU is still unable to carry out military operations outside its borders, not even when the stabili- ty of the European project itself is being called into question and challenged.