The aim of this study is to identify and assess policy preferences among European states from an empirical and theoretical angle. The focus of the empirical part will be the formulation and expression of foreign policy in France, UK, and Sweden during the processing and aftermath of the Lisbon Treaty. The overarching empirical objective is to situate the reader within the dynamics of the Common European Security and Defence (CSDP) institution in order to gain an appreciation of its main characteristics and current political trajectory. The study will then adopt a neo-functionalistic narrative when analyzing policy. This will allow the paper to test the explanatory validity of a grand theory in the CSDP, and make conclusions regarding the possibility to theoretically describe contemporary Europe.

This study argues that neo-functionalism is inadequate in fully explaining the momentum of the European defence and security integration. However, this paper concludes that some aspects of the CSDP, such as the transformation from high to low politics, normative adjustments, and policy convergence, correspond with neo-functionalistic predictions.