Making Faster and Better Decisions in EU Common Foreign and Security Policy

Delayed, or even vetoed, decisions on the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) have marred the efficiency of decision-making in CFSP for years – and by extent, they hinder the EU on its path to becoming a more assertive global actor. This brief shows realistic options the EU can use to implement more qualified majority voting (QMV) in the CFSP and closely related policy areas. In addition to activating underused CFSP Treaty provisions, the EU could boost its use of trade, and to some extent, internal competences – and thereby QMV – to pursue CFSP objectives.

1. Use EU trade competences to pursue CFSP objectives by QMV

2. Rely on internal policies to exert external influence

3. Keep pushing towards QMV in CFSP frameworks

4. Convince hesitant Member States through the QMV variations offered by the Treaties