A comparative analysis of the approaches of Germany and France to the Common Security and Defense Policy of the European Union

With this study, the approaches of France and Germany to the European Union (EU)'s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) will be analysed on a national and institutional basis. The theories of functionalism, neo-functionalism, intergovernmentalism and neo-institutionalism have been used for this study, taking the increasingly institutionalized structure of the CSDP and the national expectations of the mentioned states into account. In order to carry out detailed and accurate analyses, primary sources such as the White Papers, statistical data and EU documents, and reports of the two states mentioned, analyses made by Think Tank organizations, annual evaluations and documents published, as well as books and articles published by experts in their fields were used. The thesis consists of four parts. In the first part, the conceptual and theoretical framework is given, in the second part, the historical development of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) in the process until the Maastricht Treaty is explained, with the third part, the institutional and operational transformation of the OGSP in the period up to the present is analysed, and finally, the CFSP of France and Germany. The fundamental aspect advocated in the study is that these two states, which have historically had fairly different approaches to the OGSP, tried to act more harmoniously after 2016.