Croatian International Relations Review

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Josip Buljevic

After the Treaty of Lisbon, certain changes have been made to the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) as an integral part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Based on the results achieved so far, member states of the European Union have expressed their wish to take more responsibility in protecting the security of Europe and the whole world, through civilian, police-led or combined action. Europe is also starting to demonstrate its readiness for military action, either independently or in cooperation with NATO. At this point, however, there is no fully organized and complete security and intelligence system at the level of the European Union and it could be stated that the EU is still searching for a common European security and intelligence policy. Each of the three EU umbrella institutions (European Parliament, European Commission and European Council) is comprised with bodies in charge of security-related issues, whose work is purely analytical. Reports related to general threats to the Union and its member states are sent individually by each state and are then put together at the European Council. Unlike bodies within NATO, the EU security and intelligence elements do not act multilaterally. Operational cooperation among member states and accession countries are mostly bilateral.