'Parliamentarization' of CFSP – Wishful Thinking or a Rational Choice

The European Parliament remains with its split status in terms of the EU foreign policies due to the special rules for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), which stressed the intergovernmental basis for this policy area. However, the practice has already gone far beyond the formal treaty-based limits, with the European Parliament’s endeavors to ensure its scrutiny over the EEAS and EU delegations. The article studies the issue of the CFSP “creeping parliamentarization” process from the perspective of the current challenges faced the European Union. The Russian “hybrid war” in Ukraine as well as the concept of “comprehensive approach” for the crisis management emphasized the inter-dependence of different EU policies as well as common responsibility of the EU institutions. My argument is that “parliamentarization” of CFSP is a rational response to the current hybrid challenges. This argument is based on both internal and external aspects of current CFSP perspective debate and is supported by the CFSP current practice. The current EU practice emphasized compound goals of the EU foreign policy as well as priority of long-term development goal over pure military aims, bringing to the fore the “economic block”, which has already been supranational. From this perspective the “parliamentarization” looks like no-alternative option. Moreover, the gap between Parliament’s competences in different components of the EU external relations requires a bridge, otherwise the CFSP risks being detached from the dynamics of the integration process. In practical terms the “parliamentarization” of the CFSP is believed to contribute to strengthening the coherence of the EU, making its international performance stronger and more effective, especially from the perspective of the policy-formation process and Parliament’s monitoring functions.