The Political and Security Committee: Governing in the Shadow

The Political and Security Committee was described by the Nice European Council Conclusions in December 2000 as the ‘linchpin’ of the ESDP and yet comparatively little attention has been devoted to this highly significant newcomer to the European Union’s institutional landscape. How exactly does the committee function, for example, and what impact does it have on the definition of the ESDP and the CFSP more generally? This article attempts to shed light on the PSC and its working methods and in so doing builds on existing institutionally oriented research on the EU to examine tentatively the PSC’s impact both on European foreign and security policy as well as on the foreign and security policies of EU Member States. It will be shown that the PSC has built on the so-called ‘consultation reflex’ and other practices documented in its predecessor, the former Political Committee, to the point where Member State representatives sitting in the PSC routinely impact upon the definition of national interests and foreign policies, rather than simply bringing them to the table to be bargained over.