Civilian operations as part of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) – often referred to as civilian crisis management (CCM) in contrast to military operations – have become a key instrument of European foreign policy. They range from police, strengthening the rule of law, strengthening civil administration, and civil protection (outlined in the Feira European Council, June 2000) to various types of monitoring missions and support to EU Special Representatives (added in the Civilian Headline Goal 2008, December 2004). Civilian crisis management ties in closely with European values, discourse and norms arguably giving the EU a comparative advantage over actors such as NATO as a military alliance or the United Nations with a more diverse membership and the mandate to direct large-scale military peacekeeping operations as well as interim administrations and peace building missions, often containing civilian and police components. Two-thirds of EU CSDP operations were civilian or had civilian components (18 of 24). In addition, the demand for civilian crisis management has been growing since the 1990s and keeps rising. The European Common Security and Defence Policy is, in practice, largely driven by the need for civilian crisis management.
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