3/2008 November EU civilian crisis management and the challenges of the Czech EU Presidency 2009 Radek Khol* Security analyst Introduction The European Union has developed since 2003 within the framework of the civilian dimension of the European Security and Defence Policy(ESDP) a wide range of complex civilian crisis man­agement operations. Over the past five years the number of these operations carried out under the EU flag has reached over twenty, deployed in key hotspots of international security. It is important to consider not only the growing number, but also the more demanding profile of tasks of these civilian crisis management operations. During the Czech presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of year 2009 the Czech Republic will face in this area of security policy several challenging tasks. At the same time the Czech diplomacy will have the opportunity to use its position in the EU presidency chair to help shape the agenda of one of the most dynamic part of the foreign and se­curity policy of the EU, reflecting also its own historical experience and long-term preferences. Strategic context Historical dimension The European Security and Defence Policy(ESDP) marked in 2008 two important anniversaries – ten years of its existence as a gradually evolved self-standing EU policy and also five years of op­erational deployments under the ESDP umbrella. This is a rather quick development both in terms of institutional history of the EU and in comparison with other international security actors. It is well marked out by around twenty civilian and military crisis management operations deployed by the EU in key crisis areas – from Western Balkans, through Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia to the Caucasus. The European Union has in those five years established itself firmly as a complex security actor that could bring to bear a number of comparative advantages – political credibility, impartiality and access to a broad range of conflict prevention and crisis management tools. Its interlinkage of political, economic and financial tools with traditional security elements delivers a significant advantage, hardly available to almost any other multilateral institution of the Western world. * The analysis represents strictly personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Lazarská 6, 120 00 Praha 2, T: + 420 224 948 096, + 420 224 947 076, F: + 420 224 948 091, www.fesprag.cz, fes@fesprag.cz