Conclusions

This book identified the wide range of substantive, institutional, and procedural links that bring together the legal and policy aspects of the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. Having unpacked the development of the practice of CFSP and the Common Security and Defence Policy (including civilian missions, military operations, capabilities, and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction), the book then conceptualized the way in which these interact with other external policies in the fields of energy, sanctions, trade, development cooperation, humanitarian aid, health security, and cybersecurity, as well as the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, and the European Neighbourhood Policy. This is multi-layered and fast-moving policy of a broad scope and a dynamic legal framework. The analysis, then, stepped back and examined CFSP against a broader conceptual canvas, reflecting on the type of actor that the EU has become, the third parties, expectations of its actorness, and the role of law and ethics in the development of the policy.