ABSTRACT
In November 1993 a European Union (EU) Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) came into force. In December 1998 an Anglo-French summit meeting at St Malo laid foundations for the development of an EU Rapid Reaction Force (EURRF). In December 2002 the Union decided at the Copenhagen Summit to admit a further ten countries to full membership, the majority of which were formerly communist Central and East European countries (CEECs). These are but three of the dramatic changes that the EU has undergone in its evolution as an international security actor since the end of the Cold War. Yet to assess how and why these changes were made, and to appreciate fully their significance, it is just as necessary to understand the past as it is the present.
