The main bodies specific to the CFSP

The Political and Security Committee, which is based in Brussels, is composed of the ambassadors of the Member States. It is the institutional core of the CFSP and plays a central part in preparation and follow-up relating to the work of the CFSP. It usually meets twice a week, or more often if necessary, and since January 2001 it has replaced the political committee, which met much less frequently at the level of political directors attending from national capitals (three one-day meetings a month before the setting up of the PSC). The PSC thus allows European diplomacy to react with the required speed to crises of all kinds.

Meetings of political directors Regular contacts between the political directors of the Member States of the European Union exercise considerable influence on the definition of the policy focuses and strategic choices of European diplomacy. They do in fact continue to meet on an informal basis in a number of contexts:
 At the beginning of each Presidency in the Member State holding the Presidency, for an infor-mal seminar lasting two half-days,
 At European Councils, before the Ministers of Foreign Affairs’ dinner, in order to adapt to the latest developments in current affairs the conclusions and declarations of the European Council on external relations,
 At the United Nations General Assembly ministerial week in September,
 Occasionally in the margins of certain General Affairs and External Relations Councils.
 The PSC can also meet in political director formation.

The PSC has taken on the entire range of prerogatives of the political committee where the CFSP is concerned, such as those defined by Article 25 of the TEU: «Without prejudice to Article 207 of the Treaty establishing the European Community [which notably stipulates that COREPER, the Committee of Permanent Representatives, is responsible for preparing the work of the Council], a Political Committee shall monitor the international situation in the areas covered by the common foreign and security policy and contribute to the definition of policies by delivering opinions to the Council at the request of the Council or on its own initiative. It shall also monitor the implementation of agreed policies, without prejudice to the responsibility of the Presidency and the Commission». Without prejudice to the responsibilities of COREPER, the PSC thus prepares the political discussions between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and negotiates the draft conclusions. The PSC is chaired by the current Presidency of the Council of the European Union, but this role may be played by the Secretary-General of the Council and High Representative for CFSP in times of crisis. The PSC also exercises, under the authority of the Council, political control and strategic direction of crisis management operations. Its missions in this domain are laid down in a document appended to the report on the ESDP presented at Nice, which provides most notably that the PSC shall:

 send guidelines to the Military Committee, the opinions and recommendations of the Military Committee being sent to it,

 receive information, recommendations and opinions from the Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management, sending to the latter guidelines on matters falling within the remit of the CFSP,

 provide a privileged forum for dialogue on the ESDP between the Member States as well as with NATO in accordance with arrangements set out in the relevant documents,

 under the auspices of the Council, take responsibility for the political direction of the development of military capabilities,

 Furthermore, in the event of a crisis the PSC is the Council body which deals with crisis situations and examines all the options that might be considered as the Union’s response within the single institutional framework and without prejudice to the decision-making and implementation procedures of each pillar. To ensure its satisfactory functioning, the PSC is assisted by a Politico-Military Working Group, a Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management, the Military Committee (MC) and the Military Staff (MS), in addition to the working groups associated with the CFSP.