The European Defence Programme focuses on the future of European defence, in the frameworks of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and the NATO European pillar. It addresses the opportunities for enhancing EU-NATO relations, encouraging greater commitment to transatlantic burdensharing, and improving European cohesion on defence matters.
ELN Director Sir Adam Thomson and Policy Fellow Alice Billon-Galland argue that a new approach to strategic autonomy is needed to provide a long-term framework to increase Europe’s ability to protect its security interests.
Martin Michelot, Deputy Director of the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in Prague, analyses the Visegrád group's agenda for European defence, noting that the establishment of the EU's Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) offers an important role for small and mid-size member states in future PESCO initiatives. This presents a potential new opportunity for the Visegrád Four (V4).
Stefano Stefanini, Italy's former Ambassador to NATO, argues that the new Five Star-League Italian government will soon be faced with stark foreign policy choices. Although the government will likely remain anchored to NATO and will quickly learn it cannot 'have it all', the coalition could cause significant disruption to EU policy through populist stances on migration or Russia sanctions.
With European elections upcoming and the shape of the next Commission unknowable, this report is not an agenda for the years to come but lessons for the next Commission from developments in European defence over the last two years.
Martin Michelot, Deputy Director of the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in Prague, analyses the Visegrád group's agenda for European defence, noting that the establishment of the EU's Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) offers an important role for small and mid-size member states in future PESCO initiatives. This presents a potential new opportunity for the Visegrád Four (V4).
Stefano Stefanini, Italy's former Ambassador to NATO, argues that the new Five Star-League Italian government will soon be faced with stark foreign policy choices. Although the government will likely remain anchored to NATO and will quickly learn it cannot 'have it all', the coalition could cause significant disruption to EU policy through populist stances on migration or Russia sanctions.
ELN Director Sir Adam Thomson and Policy Fellow Alice Billon-Galland argue that a new approach to strategic autonomy is needed to provide a long-term framework to increase Europe’s ability to protect its security interests.
ELN Senior Associate Fellow Nicholas Williams argues that, even if the EU’s military function in Bosnia has evolved from a deterrent to a reassurance role, the military presence could at some stage become an obstacle to progress towards EU membership.
Despite the latest show of EU-NATO burgeoning collaboration, the Berlin Plus agreement has seemingly been quietly forgotten. Now is the time to recall the benefits of the only framework for NATO-EU operational cooperation in a crisis.
On 7 September 2018, the ELN - in partnership with the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and Palacio y Asociados - hosted a high-level roundtable to consider what defence matters could look like under the next European Commission.
ELN Policy Fellow Alice Billon-Galland participated in the Prague European Summit 2018, speaking at a panel on "European Defence Cooperation: A Symbol of the Future of European Integration?"
Alice Billon-Galland participated in the PS21 panel "The Changing Face of Conflict" at the UK Ministry of Defence on 11 June 2018.
