The dramatic spike in asylum applications to EU member states in 2014/2015 has put to the test the added value and legitimacy of the European Union as a Foreign Policy actor. Steven Blockmans traces the development the CSDP has undergone since the beginning of the refugee crisis and examines the inroads this crisis has made into the policies supporting the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). While analysing the efforts that have been made to join up the different actors and instruments towards a more comprehensive approach, Steven Blockmans also points at the limits of the Lisbon Treaty vis-à-vis the increasingly blurred boundaries between internal and external security.