The Prequel: Solana and the Formative Years of the EU’s Security and Defence Policy

The EU’s foreign and security policy can best be understood as a project under constant development. Since the early days of political cooperation in the 1970s until the adoption of the Lisbon treaty in 2009, member states faced the question of how to organise joint foreign policy-making and external representation. This chapter shows that the post of High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was central to the efforts of the EU to become a more effective international actor. Faced with the wars in the Western Balkans in the 1990s and divisions over the Iraq war in the early 2000s, member states placed a lot of faith in the ability of High Representative Javier Solana to forge a more joint approach to international challenges. At the same time, Solana was skillful in widening his policy portfolio. By the time he left office, he had defined a thematic and organisational role of the High Representative and placed the office at the centre of the EU’s foreign and security policy. However, member states were hesitant to integrate CFSP further and to expand the Commission’s powers on foreign policy matters, which led to the “double hatted” HRVP position.