The importance of environmental security in the European security architecture: an analysis of security strategies of the European Union

Danijela Lucić, PhD and Josip Bilić are the authors of the review paper “The importance of environmental security in the European security architecture: an analysis of security strategies of the European Union“. The paper is published in the journal Annals of the Croatian Political Science Association, 21 (1).

Abstract: The paper scrutinizes the trends of the European Union's security strategies, i.e. one aspect of security – the environment. Since for more than three decades security policies have considered the environmental element as one of the five key elements for (supra)national, but also individual security, the paper analyses the representation of this element in the security strategies of the European Union. Changes in key EU security documents are analyzed and the question of the representation of environmental security in EU security strategies and the possible consequences of an unbalanced security policy is raised. Four important EU security documents are analyzed: A Secure Europe in a Better World (2003), Internal Security Strategy for the European Union (2010), A Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy (2016) and A Strategic Compass for Security and Defence (2022). Without diminishing the importance of environmental security, it is concluded that prioritizing one security dimension can lead to numerous security risks, but also that environmental security can be an important constitutive element for some other security dimensions. It is argued that the analyzed approach to environmental policy can become an identity issue, a way to distinguish and differentiate the European Union from other national and supranational actors, and the question is raised about the possible consequences of such a strategic orientation.

The paper is available at the link.