The European Union and maritime security: origins, developments and latest trends

Abstract

The major goal of this study is to analyze the development of the maritime dimension of the CFSP and how this has contributed to the emerging role of the EU as a maritime security provider. It starts by focusing on the maritime challenges and opportunities facing the EU at the 2020s. It then proceeds with an analysis of the EU’s evolution in the domain of maritime security, which gives emphasis to the military and civilian missions conducted under the aegis of CSDP. Here the purpose is to outline the EU’s main developments in maritime security as mirrored in official documents like the Integrated Maritime Policy (2007); Blue Growth Strategy (2012) and Maritime Security Strategy (2014). Also, it identifies the maritime instance in which the EU has showed greater proactivity to engage and consolidate itself as an influential player in maritime security. The final section discusses the types of approaches that the EU has employed to reinforce its position as a provider of maritime security and the principal trends that have unfolded against the background of the EUGS and the new geopolitical outlook of the European Commission. The chapter concludes that in the context of an increasingly competitive maritime environment, characterized by strategic rivalries and non-military threats, the EU has detected within the framework of maritime governance an opportunity to advance as a global maritime security provider.