How Much Unity Do You Need? Systemic Contestation in EU Foreign and Security Cooperation

EU foreign policy has always been dependent on EU member states´ support. More profoundly, the Common Foreign & Security Policy (CFSP) was established in order to manage differences and disagreement among EU member states. For the past two years, however, contestation within the EU foreign policy system is said to have reached a new high. This is puzzling given the always political nature of CFSP decisions, the increased institutionalization of EU support structures, especially following the Treaty of Lisbon’s reforms (e.g. High Representative/Vice-President, European External Action Servuce), and the level of socialisation in the Council's structures. This paper takes a systemic approach to assess the nature and significance of contestation within the EU's transgovernmental foreign and security policy cooperation system. We contend that while the majority of research focuses on the disagreement in decision-making, this is to ignore the other significant - and perhaps bigger - challenges to EU foreign policy cooperation: tacit contestation by member states through disengagement from and lack of leadership of the initiatives and implementation of CFSP decisions; and passivity when faced with the need to shape cooperation. All of this risks undermining the potential added value of CFSP and CSDP in supporting member states’ own foreign policy interests.