In this interview excerpt, Álvaro de Vasconcelos, co-founder and Director of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (IEEI) in Lisbon from 1981 to 2007 and Director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) from 2007 to 2012, emphasises the role that France and the United Kingdom could play in ensuring the efficacy and credibility of a European defence policy.

In this interview excerpt, Álvaro de Vasconcelos, co-founder and Director of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (IEEI) in Lisbon from 1981 to 2007 and Director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) from 2007 to 2012, describes the differing views of France and the United Kingdom on the definition of a European defence policy and a common European position within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

In this interview excerpt, Álvaro de Vasconcelos, co-founder and Director of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (IEEI) in Lisbon from 1981 to 2007 and Director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) from 2007 to 2012, describes the convergence of France and the United Kingdom on the definition of a European defence policy.

In this interview excerpt, Álvaro de Vasconcelos, co-founder and Director of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (IEEI) in Lisbon from 1981 to 2007 and Director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) from 2007 to 2012, emphasises the successes of the European security and defence policy, especially the stabilisation missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kosovo and the more humanitarian-oriented missions. He also points out the shortcomings of the European security and defence policy, particularly owing to defence budget cuts in most European Union Member States since the early 2000s.

In this interview excerpt, Álvaro de Vasconcelos, co-founder and Director of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (IEEI) in Lisbon from 1981 to 2007 and Director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) from 2007 to 2012, shares his optimism at the future of the European security and defence policy and discusses how this policy, by means of increased Franco-British cooperation, can help bring stability to the main areas of tension across the world.