In November and December, SIPRI led discussions on European Union (EU) civilian crisis management. On 14 November, SIPRI organized a seminar in Brussels in collaboration with the Permanent Representation of Poland to the European Union. The event—titled ‘Towards a more strategic civilian CSDP: Strengthening EU civilian crisis management in a new era of geopolitics and risks’—was held on the occasion of the 6th annual review conference of the EU’s Civilian Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) Compact.
Discussions were based on insights from a new SIPRI report authored by Timo Smit, Senior Researcher in SIPRI’s European Security Programme and SIPRI’s Peace Operations and Conflict Management Programme. The report was launched at the event and is available here.
A wide range of international experts and policymakers from the European security community attended the seminar. Speakers included Benedikta von Seherr-Thoss, Managing Director for Peace, Security and Defence, European External Action Service (EEAS); Delphine Pronk, Chair of the Political and Security Committee of the EU; and Stefano Tomat, Managing Director of the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability of the EEAS and Civilian Operations Commander. The high-level panel discussed the strategic priorities, requirements and direction of the EU’s civilian CSDP. Speakers examined its shift in geopolitical focus to the Eastern Neighbourhood of the EU and the challenges faced by CSDP missions in the Sahel and the Middle East. In addition, they explored ways to future-proof civilian CSDP and articulate a new strategic vision.
On 3 December, SIPRI organized a discussion on the same topic in Berlin in collaboration with the European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management. The meeting was hosted by the German Federal Foreign Office. SIPRI's presentation of the new report was followed by reflections from Cosmin Dobran, Director of the Peace, Partnerships and Crisis Management Directorate of the EEAS; Katja Dominik, former Head of Mission of the EU Capacity Building Mission in Niger (EUCAP Sahel Niger); and Volker Jacoby, Director of the European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management.
The seminars built on previous events in Brussels and on the margins of the Munich Security Conference, co-organized by SIPRI and the Center on International Peace Operations (ZIF), and on a session at the Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development, co-organized by SIPRI, ZIF and Crisis Management Centre Finland. The seminars and the new report are part of a SIPRI project on the Civilian CSDP Compact, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.