Divisions Challenge Closer EU Defence Union, Conference Hears

摘要

Disagreements between EU member states over military missions and funding instruments represent a challenge to effective EU cooperation on defence, participants at the European Defence Industry Summit in Brussels heard on 6 March.Speakers discussed current 'hot topics' related to EU Defence, including the European Defence Union (EDU) and Fund (EDF) before an audience consisting of experts from EU institutions, NATO, think tanks and industry.Since 2016, political instability around Europe, Brexit and President Trump's doubts regarding NATO and multilateralism, have combined to push EU leaders to seek stronger strategic autonomy in security and defence. This has resulted in several initiatives, including the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) for defence projects, the EDF and the current self-defined 'geopolitical' Commission's decision to put defence high on the EU agenda, by creating a new Directorate-General for Defence and Space.