Publication

This paper examines the EU's decision-making process for launching EU-led peace support operations. It describes the dynamics of the process and investigates the working methods of the ESDP decision-making. The authors reveal that the intergovernmental character of the process is fluid and involves few formalized steps. They identify the biggest challenge in the EU's capacity in terms of planning, funding and availability of civilian and military personnel and equipment for ESDP operations.