Between aspirations and realities

While academic literature has increasingly focused on the role of the EP and national parliaments with respect to European security policies, the effect of inter-parliamentary relations on the democratic legitimacy of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CFSP/CSDP) has only recently started to attract attention. Building on the differentiation between input, throughput and output legitimacy and the principles of ‘autonomy’ and ‘accountability’ as minimum requirements for legitimacy, we ask the question as to whether and to what extent the Conference contributes effectively to an enhanced legitimacy of CFSP and CSDP. Subsequently, we analyze the Conference and shed light on whether it does indeed make a valuable contribution to the quest for legitimacy in CFSP/CSDP.