Javier  Solana is  president  of ESADE Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics (Barcelona­Madrid).He  is  also  distinguished  fellow  in  Foreign  Policy  at  Brookings  Institution,  Fisher  Family  Fellow  at Harvard  Kennedy  School, chairman of the Aspen Institute España, honorary president of the Centre for Humanitarian   Dialogue  (Geneva),  member  of  the  board  of  the  International  Crisis  Group,  the  European Council  on  Foreign  Relations,  and  Human  Rights  Watch,  as  well  as  senior  visiting  professor  at  the London School of Economics, where he was awarded an Honorary Degree in December 2010.

Javier  Solana’s 10 from 10

  • With the launch of its first mission in 2003 the EU upgraded its diplomacy to become more hands-on and visible. With real security risks for its own personnel, EU Member States not only put their money where their mouth is but also enhanced the EU’s global credibility.
  • Only ten years ago we created the crisis management foundations from scratch; the institutional structures and the human capacity. Today the EU has acquired considerable operational experience, having deployed close to 30 missions and operations in three continents.
  • Based on our own aspiration for a world governed by law, almost all our crisis management missions contribute to the strengthening of states or to the spread of rule of law.
  • The missions form an important part of the EU’s comprehensive approach. The EU must be able accompany post-conflict stabilisation and institution building in a tailor-made way, in partnership with local authorities and with local buy-in.
  • Our missions must always remain firmly anchored in political strategies. The solution to any crisis, any emergency, any conflict, must always be political. And we must not forget that early intervention and prevention is always much more cost-effective.
  • In the current economic climate with serious financial restrictions it’s important to make sure that EU tax payers money is best used to meet our security needs. But we must also continue to make the case for why it is worth investing in crisis management and early intervention.
  • We will have to be ready to respond to the growing demands for us to play our part in an evolving and increasingly complex security environment. Key for the future of EU crisis management will be to continue to develop, be innovative and open to new ideas.
  • The European Council in December 2013 should consider to redefine its crisis management structures and thoroughly embed it at the heart of its foreign policy [strategies].
  • The EU Member States should reform and streamline the internal structures, bringing all the various strands under one unified umbrella. The EU Security Strategy might need to be revised and adapted to new emerging threats in the European neighbourhood.
  • EU crisis management has proved its worth and with renewed impetus missions should continue to play a central place also in the future of the EU peace project.

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