CIVILIAN CSDP MISSIONS AS A FACTOR FOR TRANSFORMING THE CONCEPT OF SECURITY

Abstract

For decades, security has been understood primarily as the protection of state sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence against external military threats. While this perspective remains relevant, it no longer adequately reflects the complexity of the contemporary environment marked by hybrid threats, transnational crime, migratory pressures, cyber risks and institutional instability. Although the academic literature extensively examines the transition from state-centric to broader, people-centric approaches to security, the mechanisms through which this change is realized in practice are less frequently explored.
This study examines civilian missions under the European Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) as a factor in the transformation of the concept of security, starting from the thesis that they not only reflect this change, but also implement it through legal and institutional practices. A qualitative approach is used, combining legal analysis with a case study of EUCAP Somalia and comparative references to missions such as EULEX Kosovo and EUMM Georgia.
The results show that through mechanisms such as the rule of law, capacity building and institutional reform, security is produced through legal and administrative structures, rather than through the direct use of force. At the same time, the impact of these missions remains limited by political dependencies and specific local conditions. In this sense, civilian CSDP missions can be seen not only as a crisis management tool, but as a mechanism for shaping a security model based on law, institutions and resilience.