The European Security Strategy (ESS) offered the first clear expression of the EU’s global security aims. Eight years later, new attention to the ESS is needed and a new ESS may be required. This is the conclusion of a new Occasional Paper published by the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.

The paper argues that the timing is right for a discussion on the EU’s global role, against the backdrop of institutional change, shifting geopolitics, and crises in the EU’s neighborhood. Drawing lessons from previous strategic drafting processes, including in the EU and in NATO, the paper argues that a new process should be launched with one of three goals in mind: reinvigorate the existing strategy, revise the ESS, or reinvent a new document with a broader strategic scope. The analysis in this paper offers the foundation for a rigorous debate on the future of the EU’s strategic intentions in the world.

When thinking about a possible new European Security Strategy, it is important to remember that since 2010 the EU also has an Internal Security Strategy (ISS). This strategy sets out the vision, values and objectives which underpin the EU’s internal security efforts with an aim towards “integrating existing strategies and conceptual approaches”.

While many of the threats described in the 2003 European Security Strategy and its 2008 “update” (e.g. terrorism, cyber-crime, cross-border crime, and natural disasters) clearly have an internal dimension, the same is also true the other way around.  Attention must therefore be placed on ensuring close alignment not just between the two strategies but also between the internal and external security structures. One proposal put forth in a recent report on the ISS from the House of Lords is that the Standing Committee on Internal Security (COSI) and the Political and Security Committee (PSC) should hold regular joint meetings on a similar basis. Other recommendations in the House of Lords report deserve further study in the months ahead.