The Political and Security Committee (PSC; sometimes referred to by its French ''COPS'' acronym derived from ''Comité politique et de sécurité'') is a permanent body within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

dealing with

Common Foreign and Security Policy The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is the organised, agreed foreign policy of the European Union (EU) for mainly security and defence diplomacy and actions. CFSP deals only with a specific part of the EU's external relations, whi ...

issues, including

Common Security and Defence Policy The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The CSDP involves the dep ...

.Europa glossary: Political and Security Committee (PSC)
, accessed on April 21, 2008 PSC, which is based in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, consists of

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...

ial-level representatives from all the EU Member States and usually meets twice per week.France-Diplomatie: The main bodies specific to the CFSP: The Political and Security Committee
accessed on April 21, 2008 The PSC is chaired by the

European External Action Service The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service and combined foreign and defence ministry of the European Union (EU). The EEAS is led by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP), who is al ...

(EEAS).

Functions

The main functions of the PSC are keeping track of the international situation, and helping to define EU policies within the CFSP and CSDP. PSC sends guidance to, and receives advice from the European Union Military Committee (EUMC), the

Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management The Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management, or CIVCOM, is an advisory body within the European Union dealing with civilian aspects of crisis management. The activities of the CIVCOM form part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (C ...

(CIVCOM) as well as the European Union Institute for Security Studies. It is also a forum for dialogue on CSDP matters between the EU Member States. PSC also drafts opinions for the Foreign Affairs Council, which is one of the configurations of the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

. CFSP matters are passed to the Foreign Affairs Council via COREPER II.

Role in command and control of missions

History

Deputy Secretary Sherman Meets With the EU Political and Security Committee (51816825196)

The creation of the PSC was a result of the

Treaty of Amsterdam The Treaty of Amsterdam, officially the Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, was signed on 2 October 1997, and entered into force on 1 May 1999; i ...

, after which the establishment of the PSC was agreed in principle in December 1999, at the

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

European Council. PSC was first established as an interim body in 2000, but in December 2000, at the

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the ...

it was agreed to make it permanent. The formal decision to set up the PSC was taken on January 22, 2001, by the

.Activities of the European Union: Summaries of Legislation: Political and Security Committee (PSC)
accessed on April 21, 2008 The PSC replaced the previous Political Committee, which met less frequently, and consisted of representatives from the Member States' capitals rather than Brussels-based ambassadors.

Chair

In 2010 Ambassador Olof Skoog (Sweden) was appointed by the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton to serve as the first Permanent Chair of the EU Political and Security Committee. He served until September 2013 when he was replaced by Walter Stevens (Belgium).

References

External links