Since 2000, the European Union has been establishing her Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and aspires to appear as a sincere actor on the international scene of conflict prevention and crisis mangement. Since 2003, the EU has accomplished sixteen missions under the direction of the UN.
The establishment of the ESDP is carried out during a critical phase of change of the peacekeeping regime. Concepts like those of "human security" and "responsibility for protection" gain more importance and cause a change of the peace concept and new horizons for peacekeeping. Furthermore, the UN are delegating interventions to regional organisations and single states. This is of risk, because these groups could be influenced by their individual interests.
In their HSFK-Report 7/2007, Matthias Dembinski and Christian Förster conclude that the EU will not follow this trend but will remain a reliable partner of the UN in the future. Moreover, they are analyzing the universal norms and individual interest within peacekeeping. In addition, the authors recommend how the EU could strengthen and expend their relationship with the UN.
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