Funding of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy

Pursuant to the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, the Common Foreign and Security Policy or CFSP was established as one of the three pillars of the EU. The CFSP covers all areas of foreign and security policy. Its purpose is to enable the EU to become one of the leading world powers in political terms. The international position of the EU should commensurate with its economic might. To reach the goal considerable funding should be allocated to the CFSP. Nevertheless, the CFSP funding indicates that the EU is unable to be a global player which would compete with the United States for power as the EU fails to spend enough money on CFSP. Moreover, the lack of a common political will hampers activities of the EU in the field of international relations. The EU member states are attached to their sovereignty. As a result, states which do not agree with the direction of the CFSP are not obliged to participate in financing the operations which refer to military and defense issues. The EU is unwilling to participate in military actions. If a military solution to a conflict is necessary, the United States or NATO have to intervene. The EU prefers to concentrate on police missions, monitoring missions, rebuilding war-torn countries or supporting democracy through financial assistance.