The Security‐Development Nexus in European Union Foreign Relations after Lisbon: Policy Coherence at Last?

One of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty's objectives was to enhance the coherence of EU‐level foreign relations by improving collective action. Policy‐level innovations included ‘comprehensive’ and ‘joined‐up’ approaches linking EU instruments and actors, especially the Commission and the new European External Action Service. Have these reforms improved policy coherence? We focus on a key EU policy domain illustrating Europe's engagement with the changing global context: the security–development nexus. Although we find that collective action has improved somewhat since 2010, decision‐making is affected by bureaucratic actors catering to specific constituencies. Accordingly, the coherence of security and development policies remains challenged. The EU institutions lack strategic direction, which is unavoidable in a system that lacks clear hierarchy.