Lecture Abstract

While the European Union (EU) is widely recognised as an economic and trade power, few know it is also a military power, expanding its role not only in traditional security, from “hard security” to conflict prevention and crisis management, but also in non-traditional security, from cyber, counterterrorism to maritime and hybrid threats. Over the last years, the EU and its Member States have taken historic, unprecedented steps so that they can collectively be a more effective and more powerful global security provider.

About the Speaker

Pedro Serrano is Deputy Secretary General for Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and Crisis Response at the European External Action Service (EEAS) since November 2015.Previously, Mr. Serrano was Principal Advisor on External Relations to the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy. Mr. Serrano was the first Head of Delegation/Ambassador of the EU to the United Nations in New York, after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. Since 2003, Mr. Serrano has held relevant positions within the European Union’s institutions, in particular in the field of the CSDP, including as Director for Civilian Crisis Management at the General Secretariat of the Council. Prior to 2003, Mr. Serrano served as a Spanish diplomat in numerous positions including at the UN, in Cuba and Tanzania. Pedro Serrano is an EU official and member of the Spanish diplomatic career.