European Civilian Operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: EUPOL COPPS and EUBAM Rafah

European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) operations have become an increasingly important tool in EU action abroad. Since the deployment of the first ESDP operations in 2003, the Union has developed a new and multidimensional framework for military and civilian crisis management which has provided a powerful rationale for the defence policy of the European Union. This development has pushed the initially timid European Defence and Security Policy into the spotlight of European foreign policy.