The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) is the EU’s think tank for foreign and security policy. Its core mission is to provide analysis on security and defence issues, and organise discussion forums to help formulate EU policy. It also acts as an interface between European experts and decision makers. Based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, the EUISS is an

agency of the European Union The European Union and Euratom have agencies, decentralised independent bodies, corporate bodies and joint undertakings which are established as juridical persons through secondary EU legislation and tasked with a specific narrow field of work. ...

(EU) with full intellectual freedom.

History

The EUISS was inaugurated on , evolving from the Western European Union Institute for Security Studies, as part of a gradual transfer of powers from the

Western European Union The Western European Union (WEU; , UEO; , WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (alliance) , Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 Treaty of Brussels. The WEU implement ...

to the EU.

Mission

* Analyse: conduct research and analysis to provide policymakers with a clear and comprehensive understanding of the global security landscape. * Inform: offer policy-relevant recommendations to shape effective EU foreign, security, and defence policies. * Connect: serve as a bridge between Europe’s think tanks and scholarly community, and policymakers.

Activities

EUISS produces policy-oriented analysis through publications and events. The Institute's flagship publication is the ''Chaillot Paper'' series, complemented by shorter policy ''Briefs'' and news-driven ''Commentaries''. EUISS events bring together EU officials, national experts, academics, decision-makers, media, and civil society representatives from both EU Member States and the wider world. These events aim to foster dialogue, enhance analytical capacity and shape common approaches.

Research

The EUISS researches topics related to the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), including the

Common Security and Defence Policy The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The CSDP involves the de ...

(CSDP). The Institute covers EU relations with the following regions:

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and eastern neighbours,

Transatlantic relations Transatlantic relations refer to the historic, cultural, political, economic and social relations between countries on both side of the Atlantic Ocean. Sometimes it specifically means relationships between the Anglophone North American count ...

and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, and

Western Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

. In addition to these geographical regions, the EUISS addresses different thematic areas such as security and defence,

cybersecurity Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

, conflict prevention,

crisis management Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders. The study of crisis management originated with large-scale industrial and envi ...

global governance Global governance (or world governance) refers to institutions that coordinate the behavior of transnationality, transnational actors, facilitate cooperation, resolve disputes, and alleviate collective action problems. Global governance broadly ...

, economic security, transnational security, foreign information manipulation and interference.

Oversight and Funding

The Institute is funded by

member states of the European Union The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are party to the EU's founding treaties, and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of membership. They have agreed by the treaties to share their o ...

, according to a GNP-based cost-sharing formula. It is governed by the

Political and Security Committee The Political and Security Committee (PSC; sometimes referred to by its French ''COPS'' acronym derived from ''Comité politique et de sécurité'') is a permanent body within the European Union dealing with Common Foreign and Security Policy is ...

(PSC), which exercises political supervision; and a Board, which lays down budgetary and administrative rules and approves the Institute's work programme. The Board is composed of representatives of EU member states and chaired by the HR/VP

Kaja Kallas Kaja Kallas (; born 18 June 1977) is an Estonian politician and diplomat. She was the first female prime minister of Estonia, a role she held from 2021 until 2024, when she resigned in advance of her appointment as High Representative of the ...

European Strategy and Policy Analysis System

In 2011, the EUISS, in its role as the European agency for strategic studies, was chosen by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

to prepare and deliver the final reports of the

European Strategy and Policy Analysis System European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other Wes ...

(ESPAS).

References

External links

*
The European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)

CSDP structure, instruments, and agencies
EEAS website {{Authority control Security studies

Institute for Security Studies The Institute for Security Studies, also known as ISS or ISS Africa (to distinguish itself from other similarly named institutes in other parts of the world), described itself as follows: "an African organisation which aims to enhance human se ...

Political and economic think tanks based in France 2001 establishments in France 2001 in the European Union Government agencies established in 2001 Organizations based in Paris European integration think tanks