ABSTRACT
European integration has long been credited with the stabilization of peace in Western Europe after the Second World War, and in particular with the transformation of the Franco-German relationship. As the European Union (EU) has developed a common foreign policy, it is no surprise that conflict transformation has become one of the core aims in this policy field. EU foreign policy is a policy area that remains notably intergovernmental in nature and this has often proved a barrier to unified action towards conflict transformation on the part of the Union. The EU's conflict intervention capacities were boosted further by a decision at the Laeken European Council in December 2001 to operationalize the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) in the form of the Rapid Reaction Mechanism (RRM) and Rapid Reaction Forces (RRF). Conflict transformation is still a relatively new field of activity for the EU.
