The Common Security and Defence Policy of the EU : A Neo-Institutionalist Analysis of a Policy Field in Paralysis

Abstract: This research work aims at improving the overall understanding of the Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union and its functioning against the background of an increasingly perceived state of paralysis the policy field is said to be in more than 15 years after its formal establishment. On a diagnosing basis it closely examines and systematically identifies the responsible factors of the policy field's gridlock by setting up an analytical framework in order to study the policy field more closely. Through the application of three complementary neo-institutionalist approaches, whose explanatory power has already proofed to be illuminating for other spheres of the European integration process, it then provides explanations for the respective paralysing factors along the constituted analytical structure. The ultimate goal is thus to demonstrate that blaming the economic crisis for the prevalent stagnation in European security and defence cooperation is misleading and ignores much more fundamental problems the policy field is faced with.