Pierre Minard | College of Europe Brugge (original) (raw)

Papers by Pierre Minard

A month after Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) submitted its membership application to the EU, this A... more A month after Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) submitted its membership application to the EU, this Alert takes a closer look at the CSDP relationship between both partners. The signing of a Framework Participation Agreement in September 2015 is arguably part of a drive to put BiH back on the accession track, while reasserting the role of the EU as a relevant security provider.

On 1 February, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Zika virus a Public Health Emerge... more On 1 February, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Zika virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Are the health crisis management structures currently in place, not only in Latin America but also in the EU, ready to face this challenge?

On 9 November 2015, the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council elected to support the decision by... more On 9 November 2015, the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council elected to support the decision by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union to fully trigger the EU Integrated Political Crisis Response arrangements (IPCR) in reaction to the worsening of the refugee crisis. Designed to facilitate a coordinated EU response to a major crisis at the highest political level, it is the first time that the IPCR are being used. In this case, their aim is to support the member states overwhelmed by the flow of migrants by monitoring and analysing their movements.

The decision to finally put the IPCR to the test is the latest development in a process which started in mid-September, when the Luxembourg Presidency created a dedicated page on the IPCR website. This monitoring page featured free-standing contributions from the Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS), the General Secretariat of the Council (GSC) and EU member states – the first step in creating a favourable environment for a possible activation of the arrangements.

In the light of the country’s recent signing of a Framework Participation Agreement with the EU, ... more In the light of the country’s recent signing of a Framework Participation Agreement with the EU, and the upcoming White Paper on defence that Canberra is due to release before the end of the year, this Alert examines Australia’s record of security and defence cooperation with the Union and its posture as a security actor in the international arena.

This EUISS Alert analyses the implications of the Union’s recent formalisation of security cooper... more This EUISS Alert analyses the implications of the Union’s recent formalisation of security cooperation with South Korea. Aside from obvious practical benefits, what symbolic value does it have for both partners in their attempts to gain greater recognition as security actors?

Over the past ten years, the European Union has started to negotiate and sign Framework Participa... more Over the past ten years, the European Union has started to negotiate and sign Framework Participation Agreement (FPA) with third states, in order to have them participate in the various CSDP missions. The EU has recently signed an FPA with South Korea and has approached Japan to negotiate one, going beyond its usual area of cooperation and engaging partners with which it has very little experience. Yet, the rationale underlying this trend has to be figured out. It appears that what prevails is rather the symbolic value of recognising and being recognised as a relevant international security actor, both for the EU and its Asian partners. It does matter that the EU set a foot on the security map in East Asia, while it is equally important for Japan and South Korea to appear as key security players through partnerships.

This study aims at exploring the inner application of the lesson-learning process on the European... more This study aims at exploring the inner application of the lesson-learning process on the European Union’s evaluation of its Common Security and Defence Policy missions. This approach is based on a careful examination of the principal and fundamental characteristics of the concept, notably insisting on its rational nature. Yet, even though lesson-learning is an instrument originally based on organisational learning, it has been applied to a structure where the strategic end and the political apparatus are constantly diverging. Therefore the central tension of this concept lies in its adaptation to a particular organisational framework, where other parameters have the upper hand. In order to provide a meaningful illustration, this work also entails a case-study, which is focused on the Security Sector Reform missions with a strong military component: EUSEC RD Congo, EU SSR Guinea-Bissau, EUTM Somalia and EUTM Mali. Analysing as many lessons which have been identified as possible, it appears indeed that some lessons are learnt and implemented, while some others are only half-learnt, and others are not learnt at all. The consequence of the confrontation between theory and practice in the case of the European Union is that lesson-learning is used in a fragmented and non-systematic way, being constantly under the scrutiny of the political side. The latter has indeed the main influence when it comes to deciding whether a lesson is to be carried on in the process, or is to be abandoned because it is too sensitive for the member states. This means, finally, that the rational of using lesson-learning is deeply constrained and intertwined in the intricate CSDP decision-making process, which follows its own logic. Indeed, quite often, the EU and the member states are more interested into launching a mission for putting into practice an unused instrument or even acting in order to remain active in the field of CSDP, rather than taking into full consideration the lessons observed and identified previously if these go against the diplomatic parameters of the mission.

Le projet d’une « European Global Strategy », lancé en juillet 2012 et prenant fin en mai 2013, e... more Le projet d’une « European Global Strategy », lancé en juillet 2012 et prenant fin en mai 2013, entre aujourd’hui dans sa dernière ligne droite. Il constitue un espace riche de débat sur la question cruciale de la mise à jour de la stratégie européenne de sécurité, qui fête ses dix ans en 2013. Il s’agit en effet de faire face d’une part à plusieurs changements d’envergure, comme les révoltes arabes ou le redéploiement stratégique américain vers l’Asie, et d’autre part aux nombreuses critiques que l’Union européenne essuie quant à son incapacité à devenir une puissance stratégique dans le monde actuel. En ce sens, l’expression de la puissance européenne est bien à retrouver dans une imbrication complexe entre stratégies nationales et attractivité des outils diplomatiques européens.

The concept of civilian crisis management was first implemented by the Helsinki European Council ... more The concept of civilian crisis management was first implemented by the Helsinki European Council of 1999 as a counterpart to the military component in the frame of the European Security and Defence Policy. However it is also considered being an empty shell whose proper definition does not make consensus. The absence of conceptual development is, thirteen years after Helsinki, still a current issue and raises up the question of the very origins of such an unconceptualised concept. The goal of the present work is to analyse the emergence of civilian crisis management and to provide the reader with a complete and accurate range of philosophical, political and sociological explanations regarding such a particular implementation.