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The Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council and Common Security and Defense Policy: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract One of the most important rearrangements provided for in the Treaty of Lisbon is the reorganization of the presidency held by Member States in the area of Common Security and Defense Policy (CFSP), achieved by handing over a major part of presidency-related functions to the newly established institutions: the European Union (EU) High Representative (EUHR) and the European External Action Service (EEAS). The redistribution of these functions has caused a fundamental change in the roles of Member States’ presidency within CFSP and CSDP. With Lithuania’s preparation for the EU Council presidency in 2013, the question arises as to what functions it is going to retain in these areas as a presiding state. The article aims to define the institutional environment of the presidency in CSDP as a constituent part of CFSP, as well as to define the main roles of the presidency after the Treaty of Lisbon came into force and also to foresee possible factors for a successful presidency. The article is based on research carried out in the spring of 2011 under the commission of the Prime Minister’s service. During this research, interviews with two representatives of EU institutions and with experts from Lithuania, Poland, Belgium, Hungary, and Ireland, working in the area of CSDP, were conducted.