Fact or fancy? Measuring the impact of European union common security and defence policy (CSDP) missions

This study offers a systematic assessment of the effectiveness of the European Union’s (EU) Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions from 2003 to 2025. Conceptualising these operations as peacebuilding initiatives, it examines their measurable impact across three key dimensions: conflict reduction, democratic governance, and human rights protection. Drawing on a novel dataset, the findings reveal that CSDP missions have no statistically significant effect on conflict reduction, while demonstrating a consistent and positive impact on democracy, particularly through civilian missions of moderate duration. However, no measurable improvement is observed in human rights outcomes, exposing a persistent gap between the EU’s normative rhetoric and operational performance. The study concludes that the CSDP’s peacebuilding contribution remains limited by structural weaknesses, institutional fragmentation, and the long-standing ‘capability–expectations gap’. It argues for a more coherent, preventive, and people-centred approach to align the Union’s normative ambitions with tangible operational effectiveness