Společná bezpečnostní a obranná politika Evropské unie: výzvy, limity, perspektivy

The focus of the presented thesis lies on Common Security and Defense Policy of the European Union, more specifically on a security environment analysis (threats) and political challenges the EU is currently facing, limits to its further development and scenarios of its future progress. Through the perspective of European integration theories and Moravcsik’s liberal intergovernmentalism concept, this thesis aspires to uncover the underlying motives and conditions of the concurrent integration process in this area and to explain, what are the motives (determinants) that accelerate or decelerate the integration. The thesis proposes the assumption that further progress of European integration and its security dimension gaining more traction are hindered by national interest and the intergovernmental nature of the CSDP. As a conclusion of the presented discussion over the relevance of the approach applied, it is noted that the liberal the theory of intergovernmentalism is unable to explain sufficiently integration in the selected area. In respect of the intergovernmental nature of the CSDP, the concept correctly highlights the centrality of the member states and their importance in the policy formation process. But, the centrality is not absolute. Furthermore, it is concluded that it is primarily the external geopolitical security factors (security environment deterioration, political challenges), what motivates the member states to integrate further in the area of security and defense policy. The results indicate that the limits of the CSDP are not defined only by the intergovernmental nature of politics in this area (institutional limits) and the relative reluctance of the member states to give their primacy over security and defense policy issues (political limits), but further by the economical (defence spending levels), strategic (differences in strategic cultures among the member states) and military factors (fragmentation of defense markets, duplicity of military capabilities, insufficient interoperability, poor industrial cooperation).