Common Foreign and Security Policy

The Common Foreign and Security Policy or CFSP was established as the second of the three pillars of the European Union in the Maastricht treaty of 1992, and further defined and broadened in the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997. It superseded the European Political Cooperation.

Past and future

The CFSP can be considered the outgrowth and replacement of the European Political Cooperation which had been formally established in the Single European Act (in effect since 1987), and informally introduced already from 1970 in response to the Davignon report. In the 1950s an even earlier attempt at political cooperation through the European Political Community had failed to be launched.

Related Topics:
European Political Cooperation - Single European Act - 1987 - 1970 - Davignon report - 1950s - European Political Community

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

According to the as yet unratified European Constitution, the pillar structure will be abandoned -- this means that the functions currently considered part of the CFSP will be further incorporated into the functions of the rest of the Union. Among other things the post of the High Representative of the CFSP will be merged with the post of the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, creating the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs who will be at the same time Vice-President of the Commission.

Related Topics:
European Constitution - Union Minister for Foreign Affairs

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As part of the simplification of jargon in the treaties, "common positions" and "joint actions" will be both renamed into "decisions".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~