Author: Antonio Tanca
Committee: EU Institutions Committee
Date: 25/03/2025
The latest geopolitical events in Ukraine but not only, pose security challenges to the European Union that are continually evolving. Most of the attention is at the moment focused on defence in the classic sense of the term, in a situation of lingering crisis in transatlantic relations. But there are also a number of additional threats to Europe and its values, especially to the rule of law, which should not be overlooked. The most important ones are terrorism, the handling of illegal migration, organised crime, as well as the use of disinformation for destabilisation purposes.
To successfully face these challenges it is crucial for the EU to use seamlessly and effectively its tools from CFSP/CSDP and the Freedom, Security and Justice area. This implies proper coordination between all EU bodies and agencies potentially involved: not just CSDP tools but also FRONTEX, EUROPOL, EUROJUST and EPPO. EPPO in particular, with its unique centralised competences, can prove crucial in a context where threats arising from conflict and/or post-conflict areas are essentially transnational in nature.
This lecture will first of all address the basics of CSDP as well as its more recent developments such as the EU Strategic Compass and the EU White Paper for European Defence, which has just been published. It will then highlight the relevance of some of these developments for internal security (especially the initiatives on cyber defence and on countering hybrid threats). It will finally focus on the role of the agencies of the Freedom, Security and Justice area, including EPPO, in this context.