The Common Security and Defence Policy Service Medal (named the European Security and Defence Policy Service Medal prior to 2009) is an international military decoration awarded to individuals, both military and civilian, who have served with

CSDP missions The European Union (EU) has undertaken a number of overseas missions and operations, drawing on civilian and military capabilities, in several countries across three continents (Europe, Africa and Asia), as part of its Common Security and Defe ...

. Since the 1990s the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

has taken a greater role in military missions both in Europe and abroad. These actions were taken under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), which is implemented by the

European Union Military Staff The Military Staff of the European Union (EUMS) is the directorate-general of the European Union's (EU) External Action Service (EEAS) that contributes to the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) by providing strategic advice to the H ...

, a department of the EU. To recognize service in these missions the EU authorized the creation of a medal with a common obverse and reverse, to which clasps featuring the missions' name are attached to the

ribbon bar A medal ribbon, service ribbon or ribbon bar is a small ribbon, mounted on a small metal bar equipped with an attaching device, which is generally issued for wear in place of a medal when it is not appropriate to wear the actual medal. Each cou ...

Appearance

The medal is 36 mm in diameter, made of a silver colored metal. All versions share a common design. The obverse of the medal is plain except for a circle of twelve five pointed stars around the outside edge of the medal. The reverse contains the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

phrase, ''Pro Pace Unum'', meaning "United for Peace". The words are arranged in three lines one word above the other in the center of the medal. The medal is suspended from a 36 mm ribbon in EU blue with either a wide gold center stripe for headquarters and combat forces, or a wide white stripe for planning and support. Each operation is identified with a different clasp with the name of the operation worn on the ribbon of the medal. A miniature version is worn on the ribbon bar, when medals are not worn.

Ribbons and clasps

Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUPM), 1 January 2003 – * ESDP Medal CONCORDIA ribbon bar

EUFOR Concordia, 31 March 2003 – 15 December 2003 * ESDP Medal ARTEMIS ribbon bar

Operation Artemis Operation Artemis, formally European Union Force Democratic Republic of the Congo (EUFOR), was a short-term European Union-led UN-authorised military mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the Ituri conflict. ARTEMIS is consider ...

, 12 June 2003 – 1 September 2003 * ESDP Medal PROXIMA ribbon bar

EUPOL Proxima in the former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

, 15 December 2003 – 14 December 2005 * ESDP Medal ALTHEA ribbon bar

EUFOR Althea Operation Althea, formally the European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR), is a military deployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina to oversee the military implementation of the Dayton Agreement. It is the successor to NATO's SFOR and IFOR. T ...

, 2 December 2004 – * ESDP Medal EUSEC RD Congo ribbon bar

Reform Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( EUSEC RD Congo), 8 June 2005 – 2016 * ESDP AMIS

AMIS EU Supporting Action, 18 July 2005 – 31 December 2007 * ESDP Medal EUBAM Rafah ribbon bar

Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah Crossing Point (

EUBAM Rafah The European Union Border Assistance Mission at the Rafah Crossing Point (EU BAM Rafah) was the EU's second Civilian Crisis Management Mission in the Palestinian territories, the other being the European Union Police Mission for the Gaza Strip (EU C ...

), 25 November 2005 – * ESDP Medal EUPOL COPPS ribbon bar

Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support (

EUPOL COPPS The European Union Police and Rule of Law Mission for the Palestinian Territory, official title EU Co-ordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support (EUPOL COPPS), is a European Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) mission for the Palestin ...

), 1 January 2006 – * ESDP Medal EUFOR RD CONGO ribbon bar

EUFOR RD Congo European Union Force RD Congo, commonly referred as EUFOR RD Congo, was a European Union deployment in 2006 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On 25 April 2006, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1671 (2006), authorisi ...

, 12 June 2006 – 30 November 2006 * ESDP Medal EUPOL AFGHANISTAN ribbon bar

Police Mission to Afghanistan ( EUPOL Afghanistan), 15 June 2007 – 31 December 2016 * ESDP Medal EUFOR TCHAD-RCA ribbon bar

Bridging Operation in Chad and the Central African Republic ( EUFOR Tchad/RCA), 17 March 2008 – 15 March 2009 * EUMM Georgia Medal ribbon bar

European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia ( EUMM Georgia), October 2008 – * ESDP Medal EU NAVFOR ATALANTA ribbon bar

EU Naval Operation Atalanta, 5 November 2008 – * ESDP KOSOVO

EU operations in Kosovo (including combined EU Election Observation Missions, European Commission and some early EULEX Kosovo awards), 9 December 2008 – * ESDP Medal EULEX KOSOVO ribbon bar

Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo ( EULEX Kosovo), 9 December 2008 – * CSDP Medal EUTM SOMALIA ribbon bar

European Union Somalia Training Mission ( EUTM Somalia), in Uganda, May 2010 – * CSDP Medal EUCAP NESTOR ribbon bar

European Union Regional Maritime Capacity Building for the Horn of Africa and the Western Indian Ocean (EUCAP NESTOR), 16 July 2012 – * CSDP Medal EUTM MALI ribbon bar

EUTM Mali, January 2013 – * CSDP Medal EUAVSEC SOUTH SUDAN ribbon bar

European Union Aviation Security Mission in South Sudan ( EUAVSEC SOUTH SUDAN), February 2013 – January 2014 * CSDP Medal EUFOR RCA ribbon bar

EUFOR RCA European Union Force RCA, commonly referred as EUFOR RCA, is the United Nations-mandated European Union peacekeeping mission in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic. The goal of the mission is to stabilize the area after more than a y ...

, April 2014 – 2015 * CSDP Medal EUAM UKRAINE ribbon bar