The present contribution looks at the progressive development of the crises management of the European Union and the recent engagement of the EU in a number of military operations. The contribution provides an overview of the basic legal framework of such operations.
Furthermore it focuses on the questions related the field of international humanitarian law, contending that the new role of the Union as a fully-fledged military actor on the international scene raises, ipso facto, the question of the applicability of IHL to the EU-led troops.