Unpacking National Parliamentary Perceptions of CSDP Operations, 2016-2021

By Robert Kissack, Eva Michaels & Óscar Fernández

This paper provides a first snapshot and comparison of national parliamentary perceptions of EU military and civilian operations that could be observed in the parliaments of 13 selected EU Member States during the years 2016 to 2021.

Tracing parliamentary perceptions of recently concluded and ongoing EU crisis management operations, and where possible also perceptions of contemporary crises in Europe’s neighbourhood, associated threats and risks and preferred crisis responses, allows us to identify patterns of change and continuity regarding the positions of national legislatures on security and defence matters.

This, in turn, helps to better grasp the diversity of views on the topic within the EU and its effects on EU policymaking, which tend to remain understudied. In addition, we discuss the salience of CSDP operations and external crises during this period in the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence.

This provides a broader comparative context to the degree of salience and scrutiny of CSDP operations in the national parliaments of the selected EU Member States.

Overall, this paper unpacks national parliamentary perceptions of EU crisis management to contribute to better understandings of why the EU behaved the way it did and what this may imply for future EU crisis responses.