The UK and EU foreign and security policy: an optional extra

Foreign and security policy were not areas in which Prime Minister Cameron was seeking to renegotiate the relationship between the UK and the European Union (EU) but security may be a key issue in the EU referendum. The untangling of Britain’s foreign and security policy from the EU following a Brexit vote would be relatively uncomplicated. The EU’s arrangements for collective foreign and security policy, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), are conducted on an intergovernmental basis which allows the UK to preserve independence in its diplomacy whilst allowing for the coordination of policy where interests are held in common with other member states. The UK retains substantial diplomatic and military capabilities which would allow it to continue to pursue a separate national foreign, security and defence policy, in the case of either a ‘Leave’ or ‘Remain’ outcome.