Position and significance of European Union civilian missions

Bjelica Vlajić Iris (Fakultet za poslovne studije i pravo Univerziteta \\\"Union - Nikola Tesla\\\", Beograd), iris.bjelica.vlajic@fpsp.edu.rs

Since its establishment, the European Union (EU) has gone through several stages of development. Significantly, this international organisation has grown into a supranational community of states that share similar views on international politics and security. The process of creating the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) within it began with the Maastricht Treaty. It continues through the treaties on the functioning of the EU. Finally, the process was completed with the adoption of the Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy in 2016. The EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy had military and civilian components. In 2003, the first EU civilian and military missions were sent to third countries. In addition, cooperation with third countries was carried out through their participation in civilian and military missions. Based on the Council conclusions of November 19, 2018, the strengthening of the civilian segment of the CSDP began. The paper analyses the legal position and significance of EU civilian missions. The analysis includes a study of the solutions adopted in primary and secondary legislation, as well as a discussion of existing EU missions. The conclusion is that civilian missions are a useful tool for cooperation between the EU and neighbouring countries as well as for strengthening the EU’s presence in the international environment. Given that missions are established at the request of the host country, the status of personnel is regulated by the relevant agreements (SOMA). The inclusion of the Republic of Serbia’s civilian representatives in EU missions would contribute not only to the fulfilment of its pre‐accession obligations under Chapter 31 but also to the professionalisation of its staff. The paper uses historical and comparative methods, as well as the content analysis of legal acts.

Keywords: CFSP, civilian missions, EU, crisis