A European Security Council: Added Value for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy?

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Would the creation of a European Security Council (ESC) add value for the European Union's Foreign and Security Policy? MARKUS KAIM and RONJA KEMPIN explore the issue in their article for the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
The German proposal to create such a body has so far remained vague, and little has been set out in detail. Such a project is controversial among EU members, the authors contend. "The German idea can only be successfully implemented if EU member states’ gain in capacity for decision-making and action compensates for their loss of sovereignty in foreign and security policy," KAIM and KEMPIN write.
However, in view of the rather unenthusiastic attitude towards integration by many member states, it is obvious that any ESC project should not be conceived as a quantum leap in integration policy, they stress.
"At best, the German proposal can therefore aim to establish a foreign and security policy leadership group." If this group was removed from the EU framework, it would additionally be possible to benefit from the contributions and skills of the UK or Norway, for ex­am­ple. Nevertheless, such an approach risks weakening the Common Foreign and Security Policy/Common Security and Defense Policy.
For this reason, the authors contend, the German Government should consider whether its plan to extend majority voting in EU foreign policy is not in fact better suited to increasing the EU’s capacity to make decisions than establishing an ESC.