The Future of Crisis Management within the European Union

Abstract

Considering the many developments that have taken place in the field of crisis management in the European Union during the last ten years, trying to depict what the future will look like is not an easy task. Nevertheless, though it might not be possible to predict where the common crisis management system will be in seven or eight years time, we do know something about the driving forces behind the developments. We know why there has been an increase in cooperative initiatives and we also know something about what the Member States want the joint crisis management system to be. Together this will not tell us exactly what will happen, but at least it will make us able to make some educated guesses.

This final chapter will sum up some of the general issues that have been discussed throughout the book. The crisis management system has evolved from both the ground level and from the top. The result of this growth will be discussed in relation to crisis management as a work process. The chapter concludes with a modest discussion on what to expect of the Treaty of Lisbon and some ideas on future developments. The treaty has not yet been ratified by all Member States. Consequently, we cannot say for certain how it will affect the crisis management system, but it is likely that the sections of the treaty that concern crisis management will be brought up for discussion regardless of what happens to the treaty as a whole.