Despite the formal abolition of the ‘pillars’, in practice they have been preserved by special rules for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The current academic discourse about the CFSP reflects the dichotomy of supranational and intergovernmental EU components. The Russian ‘hybrid war’ as well as the concept of a ‘comprehensive approach’ for crisis management stressed the inter-dependence of different EU policies as well as the common responsibility of the EU institutions with no place for the existing division of the EU foreign policies. The article argues that the further development of supranational practices within the CFSP is a rational response to current ‘hybrid’1 challenges. This argument is supported by the post-Lisbon CFSP institutional dynamics, which reveal the need for synergy in this policy area and simultaneously offers a number of practical steps towards re-shaping its institutional architecture.
European Foreign Affairs Review