ABSTRACT
The principled decision to craft an EU Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) in 1999 raises a number of fundamental questions about the political nature of the Union itself. The ESDP can be seen as an example of states seeking to form an alliance, in order to increase their weight in armed conflict. However, the depth of EU centralized decision-making authority and EU policy breadth, make the label ‘alliance’ inadequate. We are then left with two basic options. We may see the ESDP as a linear consequence of past integration and think of the EU as an incipient strategic actor-an emerging pole in international politics. Conversely, one could argue that the ESDP is one of several factors that push the EU in a novel direction, effectively breaking the past trajectory of a seemingly ‘ever closer union’ and pointing to a more fragmented organization of European political authority.
