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When it comes to natural resources the EU is strategically weak. The European economy requires resource inputs for such sectors as health, but it is overly dependent on securing these inputs from external suppliers and faces competition for them from emerging economies. However, until Europe puts in place cost-effective substitution and recycling policies for its list of fourteen critical raw materials, or unless other substantial global sources become available, the EU will have to start acting strategically to secure supplies.

It is true that the EU has a number of ideas about reducing the EU's strategic exposure - see, for example, Commissioner Tajani's report of February 2011 - but they only concentrate on the industrial, developmental and environmental aspects of the dilemma. Given that the European Security Strategy notes that natural resources can create international turbulence, and that the Union must react robustly to strategic priorities, it is puzzling that there has been no mention of a possible role for the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).

Defense will be essential however. Without serious global governance there is always the possibility that natural resources can cause rivalry between and within states; it is no coincidence that the uprisings in North Africa were preceded by high food prices for example. Insecurity can also arise from resources, with piracy and terrorist sabotage threatening the safety of supplies. Under such circumstances the EU needs to have the capacity to forcibly ease supply constraints in any part of the world.

Of course, many may see the EU NAVFOR anti-piracy mission in the Arabian Sea as an embryonic expression of EU naval power to secure resource supplies. Naval power is indeed the priority in this regard. The manpower of the as of yet unused EU Battlegroups will be useless in securing global shipping lanes, so more effort will be required to strategically connect Europe's navies to meet this goal.

Beyond "guns and ships", however, the EU could also use civilian capacities under CSDP for resource security. One major challenge is the impact smuggling from illegal mines in places such as central Africa has on global commodity prices and the environment. Yet with its border assistance missions (e.g. EUBAM Moldova/Ukraine), the EU has gained experience in training local customs officials in third-countries how to stem the flow of illegal commodities from being smuggled across borders. The EU could adapt such a nascent approach and extend it to resource smuggling hotspots.

The EU's current set of space-based tools under the CSDP - for example, the Satellite Centre - could also be calibrated to focus on resource supply security issues. Such a focus could play a role in the discovery of natural resources and in the eventual management of them. The development of space assets for natural resource security could also lead to commercial gains through R&D.

It is time that the CSDP be channeled into the EU's efforts on natural resource security. The Policy should have equal footing in deliberations on the EU's Raw Materials Strategy. This should not divert attention away from finding global multilateral solutions to the natural resource question. Nor should it be an excuse to neglect issues such as corporate transparency, good governance, environmental degradation, and labor standards in third-countries.

Nevertheless, in a multipolar world the EU must gradually utilize all of its capacities to defend European interests with the aim of securing the EU's strategic position in the world. Natural resource security, given its relevance to European populations and the economy, could be the strategic issue which breathes new life into the EU's CSDP and European foreign policy more generally.

Daniel Fiott is a research fellow at the Brussels-based think tank the Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation.