Central vs distributed EU Defense ]] Ultimately, all these issues circle around the one topic that always puts the brakes on any real movement toward European defence structure: sovereignty.The reality is that Brussels is merely an administrative capital, thus the correct manner to deal with such an issue is toRead More →

EU Perfect storm Brewing]] “Defence ministries face a perfect storm across Europe: a squeeze on their budgets, severe underinvestment in defence techology and capabilities, Brexit, a huge number of non-interoperable platforms, a fragmented industrial base, too many capabilities of the wrong type – 2,000 fighters and only 50 tankers toRead More →

Industry & EU Growth]] Industry claims it wants an end to juste retour as imposed by national governments. “We have a European defence-industrial base and we have working supply chains but it is the conditions under which we labour that cause problems,” Karsten Lepper, representative of the German Industry forRead More →

Blueprint for EU Defense]] The Commission has a blueprint for supporting national ministries and their defence industries. First, it will soon launch its Preparatory Action (PA) or prototype programme to support defence research and development (R&D) with EU funding, namely EUR90 million (USD97 million) over three years (2017-19). This fundingRead More →

Pesco & EU formulation]] PESCO’s complexity has not stopped EU and national officials from exploring its implications – in ways they never have before – and preparing the ground for its possible invocation.The problem with it is that it needs a concrete framework otherwise its useless.EU stands on the brinkRead More →

Franco German Defense & EU]] The Franco-German Defense & reference to levels of ambition is ‘Euro-speak’ for the Lisbon Treaty’s provision for ‘permanent structured co-operation’ (PESCO). Along with a clutch of other defence policy ideas, PESCO’s applicability is now the focus of intense study by the European Commission, the CouncilRead More →

Defense Evolution in EU]] The EU’s possible post-Brexit evolution in defence and other policy areas was framed by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in the five scenarios outlined in his White Paper on the future of Europe: ‘Avenues for unity for the EU at 27’, unveiled on 1 March. ThoseRead More →

EU Army or none]] While no officials talk seriously about a European army in the foreseeable future, none of them deny that ‘business as usual’ in defence matters is over. The EU has become lost in its vision. Just as Tower Babylon was intended to reach the very heavens ,Read More →

EU Defense Strategy Nearly three decades after the ‘peace dividend’ of the Berlin Wall’s fall in 1989, after which the military protection of Europe was seen as increasingly irrelevant in the social context, defence imperatives have come roaring back to the continent with a vengeance, but in a totally newRead More →