Since this European Chronicle was launched in June 2007 (initially as a European ‘opinion column’), its author Jean-François Drevet has regularly alerted our readers to the limits and weaknesses of a European Union that might be said to be neglecting the issues of security and defence, keeping them an exclusively national preserve. Most of the member states saw no point developing a common policy in this area, considering that the USA offered a protective umbrella as part of the Atlantic Alliance.
However, the tide has now turned, as was already becoming evident during Donald Trump’s first term (if not, indeed, Barack Obama’s), and Europeans are coming to the painful realization that they are going to have to take responsibility for their own defence and reinvest in the recruitment, training and equipping of their armed forces. And, given the reemergence of imperial logics, if it is to have significant impact, then clearly only (European) union can bring strength. Unfortunately, the history of the building of Europe shows how hard it is to move collectively toward common defence. More recently, Germany, France and the UK (no longer an EU member) have had to set up a distinct alliance—the Coalition of the Willing—to support Ukraine, and shift their security cooperation to new levels.
Is Europe capable of taking the leap to establishing a common defence system? This is the question addressed here by Jean-François Drevet, who stresses the limits that have long existed in this field, examines the potential of this Coalition of the Willing, and recalls the lessons to be drawn from the planned European Defence Community, the failure of which in 1954 cleared the way for European economic integration but closed the door (for more than 70 years) on a shared system of defence.
The article is downloadable only in French. It is not available in English.
