What Joining the EU’s Common Security Defense Policy Means for Denmark

By Caleb Carter

The Kingdom of Denmark has a unique history regarding its international security agreements. In fact, until recently, Denmark’s position was the opposite of a couple of its Scandinavian neighbors, Sweden and Finland.[1] While all three of these nations are members of the European Union (“EU”), until June 1, 2022, Denmark was the only EU member state to opt-out of the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy (“CSDP”).[2] Despite that, Denmark was a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (“NATO”) in 1949 while both Sweden and Finland only sought NATO membership in 2022.[3] The change of these three nations’ defense policies have been prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.[4] As of writing Sweden’s and Finland’s ascension to NATO is still ongoing, as that requires the unanimous consent of current NATO members which takes time to gather.[5] However, Denmark’s participation in the CSDP began immediately after their referendum to join succeeded.[6]

The question remains how Denmark’s membership in the CSDP will affect Denmark and the EU in the short term. Denmark has been a NATO member since NATO’s inception, and the EU and NATO have long cooperated on defense issues.[7] This is mainly due to the overlap of many members between the two organizations — twenty-one nations are members of both — and the numerous shared security concerns of the organizations’ members.[8] There are some key differences, however, between how NATO and the CSDP function that are vital in understanding Denmark’s new CSDP participation.[9] One key difference is that NATO is purely a mutual defensive alliance while participation in the CSDP means active involvement in the EU’s collective foreign policy objectives.[10] This means that NATO members’ military forces will only be called upon when one member is attacked directly by a non-member state — though members do regularly voluntarily cooperate on other security matters as well.[11] This is in contrast to an EU member state’s participation in the CSDP, which acts as an extension of the EU’s wider foreign policy goals beyond the mutual defense of its member states.[12] This can include deploying forces to missions outside EU territory.[13]

These deployments, however, have mainly consisted of peacekeeping missions, often in conjunction with NATO or with a mandate from the United Nations (“UN”) Security Council.[14] In partnership with NATO, for example, the CSDP deployed EU forces to Bosnia-Herzegovina and modern North Macedonia.[15] Additionally, while meeting the mandate of the UN Security Council, for example, the CSDP deployed peacekeepers to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”).[16] In short, the CSDP focuses on “collective self-defense,” and is a bit more proactive than NATO.[17] The CSDP is inseparable from the EU’s larger foreign policy goals while NATO generally has no collective foreign policy goals beyond the defense of its members.

Denmark is now privy to security discussions it was previously excluded from that affect other countries in the EU. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Denmark joining the CSDP may create some internal changes within its government and society. The most straightforward change is that Denmark will be aware of and participate in internal deliberations that guide the CSDP.[18] This means that Denmark can now vote on matters related to the CSDP when they are discussed by the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council.[19] Each CSDP member state gets a seat on the Foreign Affairs Council, and when the Council discusses CSDP matters that seat is filled by each nation’s defense minister or national equivalent.[20] Only CSDP member states specifically are authorized to attend these sessions, but, since Denmark is a member now, all EU members are on the Foreign Affairs Council since Denmark was the last to join the CSDP.[21]

Denmark joining the CSDP is also a significant because any decisions regarding the CSDP have to be unanimous.[22] However, Denmark has not yet joined other EU initiatives to integrate its member states’ militaries.[23] For instance, Denmark has yet to join the Permanent Structured Cooperation (“PESCO”).[24] The PESCO is a plan adopted by the EU to assist member states with integrating and standardizing their military forces to streamline cooperation among member states.[25] Thus, Denmark still has no vote over the direction of PESCO policy because only PESCO members vote on its governance and not CSDP members.[26]

Ultimately, Denmark’s decision to participate in the CSDP changes very little in the short-term. Denmark, however, now has a vote on the CSDP via the EU Foreign Affairs Council. Thus, Denmark has a more prominent voice in deciding EU foreign policy because the Council requires unanimous votes.[27] Most importantly, however, Denmark is now privy to security discussions it was previously excluded from that affect other countries in the EU, which brings Denmark’s foreign policy in harmony with EU member nations.[28]

[1] Denmark to Join EU Defence Policy After Historic Vote, Aljazeera (June 2, 2022), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/1/exit-polls-danish-voters-want-back-joining-eus-defence-policy.

[2] Id.

[3] Denmark and NATO, NATO (last visited Sept. 5, 2022), https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_162357.htm.

[4] Aljazeera, supra note 1.

[5] Member Countries, NATO (July 6, 2022), https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_52044.htm.

[6] Aljazeera, supra note 1.

[7]Relations with the European Union, NATO (July 26, 2022), https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_49217.htm.

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] Priyali Prakash, Explained: Denmark’s Decision to Join the EU Common Security and Defence Policy, The Hindu (June 13, 2022), https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/explained-denmarks-decision-to-join-the-eu-common-security-and-defence-policy/article65504795.ece.

[11] Collective Defence – Article 5, NATO (July 11, 2022), https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_110496.htm.

[12] Prakash, supra note 10.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Id.

[16] Id.

[17] Id.

[18] Denmark Votes to Join EU Common Defense After 30 Years of Opting Out, France 24 (June 6, 2022), https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20220601-denmark-to-hold-referendum-on-scrapping-eu-defence-opt-out.

[19] Foreign Affairs Council Configuration (FAC), Eur. Council (last visited Sept. 5, 2022), https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/council-eu/configurations/fac/.

[20] Id.

[21] Prakash, supra note 10.

[22] Id.

[23] About PESCO, PESCO (last visited Sept. 5, 2022), https://www.pesco.europa.eu/about/.

[24] Id.

[25] Binding Commitments, PESCO (Dec. 11, 2017), https://www.pesco.europa.eu/binding-commitments/.

[26] Id.

[27] Id.

[28] Prakash, supra note 10.