Legitimacy and EU security and defence policy: the chimera of a simulacrum (part of the collection “Understanding legitimacy in EU foreign policy”)

How can EU defence policy best be grounded in democratic consent and what are the implications for policy makers of alternative models available? This question has to rest at the heart of any consideration of the democratic legitimacy of the European Union’s evolving “common” foreign, security and defence policies – bearing on the “internal input legitimacy” of this special issue. This article considers the European Union’s defence policy and asks where does the democratic legitimacy of such a policy rest and is such legitimation a necessary condition of developing such a policy? Critically, it also assesses the implications for policy making and policy makers, arising from such legitimization by considering the implications of a shift from first to second generation analysis of civil–military relations and the options for strengthening the democratic legitimacy of this policy area as its development accelerates.