On The Eu's Common Security And Defense Policy And Its Prospects

European integration is undoubtedly the world's most successful regional integration model.After World War II, Europe began the political and defense cooperation practice , but compared to the tremendous achievements of its economic integration, political integration is obviously lagged behind , particularly the integration of defense. In the international political arena, the EU has been known as the "economic giant, political Dwarfs, military pygmy." After the Cold War, the EU is committed to change this image, seeking to play the role of its economic strength .European political integration has made a series of achievements. In 1992, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was established as the second "pillar"of EU and therefore became the core of political integration. Since European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) was started in 1999,considerable progress has been made, such as the establishment of European Rapid Reaction Force, the establishment and operation of relevant institutions, a series of military actions, and especially "European Security Strategy" was for the first time introduced in 2003. EU's international image has been improving much.However,after the Cold War ended, the United States (through NATO) still dominates the European security affairs. On one hand, it wants its European allies to strengthen their own strength and share more responsibilities; on the other hand ,it worries that the EU defence will be strong enough one day to be independent from NATO. The attitude of the United States will restrict or impede the further development of EU defense integration. The United States still remains the largest external factor and constraint affecting the integration of the EU defense.In the current international system, nations of sovereignty are still the main actors, and sovereignty of one country remains an important factor. Even in EU, whose integration has reached a higher level,the process of political cooperation is more subject to the sovereignty of alienation.The member states will only transfer part of its sovereignty to the EU institutions for better safeguarding its national interests. As long as one state adheres to its sovereignty, the EU's supranational nature will remain greatly reduced. Defense belongs to the core elements of a country's sovereignty, the EU's integration in this area will depend greatly on the cooperation between or among the countries,which in turn depend on EU to play their full role. Looking back on the process of European integration which is full of national negotiation, compromise and bargaining, we can know the formation and development of ESDP will be no exception,while from the complexity of the operation mechanism, ESDP is a reflection of multilateralism in the inter-governmental cooperations, which seems to be more decisive. In addition, the further development of ESDP also faces some other factors,such as military fee, the international situation and so on. In short, ESDP is an important part of EU's political integration. However, the EU has not yet been a state with sovereignty, which still subjects to its sovereign member states, the United States, military spending, the international situation and other factors.So the future of ESDP still has a long way to go. Objective and rational understanding of this will contribute to a better evaluating of EU's international role and its future implications.This paper will first simply give the background of ESDP retrospectively, then focus on the process and achievements of EU defense integration , with special attention to Europe's new security concept. Then, it will focus on such obstacles in the development of the EU defence as national sovereignty, the United States and other factors. Finally , the thesis will briefly explore the prospects of ESDP.