The 8 th International Scientific Conference “DEFENSE RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN THE 21st CENTURY” Braşov, November 10 th - 11 th 2016 THE COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENSE POLICY – EVOLUTIONS AND CHALLENGES Maria Constantinescu, Associate Professor, PhD DRESMARA/ National Defense University Carol I/ Brasov/ Romania Abstract: The future of the Common Security and Defense Policy is closely linked to the future of the European Union itself. Although the birth of the EU is linked to economic cooperation and integration, its evolution over time has made it impossible to return to a simple economic multinational framework. The current changes in the security and defense environment have brought the issue of a European defense, the various ways it can be achieved and the degrees of integration and cooperation it requires, in the attention of the political decision makers and public opinion. This paper intends to analyze the history and evolution of the EU CSDP concept and to outline some of the most serious challenges it faces in the volatile current security climate. Key words: defense, CSDP, PESCO, scenarios, challenges 1. Introduction The Common Security and Defense Policy, although it has been part of the European Union framework for some time, has recently come into the spotlight following the dramatic shifts in the regional and international security and defense environment. The deterioration of the situation in the Middle East, the volatility of the security situation at the very borders of the EU, the migration crisis, the shift of the US security interests towards the Asia-Pacific area, combined with the severe reduction of the EU military capabilities in the years following the onset of the economic and public debt crisis have brought into the attention of politicians and public opinion alike the fact that the EU can no longer afford the path of existing just as an economic and political union, based on a rather rigid and complex framework, that has not been adapted to the current environment. This paper intends to analyze the history and evolution of the EU CSDP concept and to outline some of the most serious challenges it faces in the volatile current security climate. 2. History and evolution of the European common security and defense concept The subject of a European Defense, although intensely discussed recently, is not a new debate, as the idea of common defense preceding even the creation of the European Union. The subject actually is approaching the venerable age of 70 years, as the first idea of a common European defense policy originated in the aftermath of the Second World War, in 1948, when France, UK, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg signed the Treaty