For the first time in its history, the European Union has mobilized funds, 1.5 billion euros, to buy lethal weapons and send them to the Ukrainian army. It had never happened. Even Germany has broken its taboos.
There were symbolic decisions too. There has been a lot of talk about Sweden and Finland joining NATO, but in early June Denmark chose it – by referendum – to join European defense policy. Concretely, this allows it to benefit from a provision according to which if a Member State is “the object of an armed attack, the others owe him aid and assistance”. Historic decision because Copenhagen has always been on the side of Euro-skeptics, rejection in 92 of the Maastricht Treaty, refusal in 2000 to adopt the euro, refusal again in 2015 to integrate the common policy on internal affairs and justice. But the war entered the landscape and everything changed.
The European army is not for tomorrow. At 27 it’s way too complicated. Even on a material level. Imagine, there are 12 different tank models in Europe (the Americans have only one). But things are moving forward… In March, Europe adopted what it calls its “strategic compass”. The equivalent of a white paper on defense and security to define threats and prepare together to respond to them. But this is a first. It still took two years to give birth. This compass is accompanied by the creation of a rapid deployment force: between now and 2025, 5,000 men can be taken from national armies if necessary to make Europe more responsive.
On the issue of means, Europe is also gaining momentum. There is an 8 billion euro European Defense Fund for 2021-2027. This is small compared to the sum of the military budgets of the Member States which amounts to 200 billion per year, but it allows projects such as the combat aircraft of the future to be advanced.
Brussels also proposes that the purchase of arms and ammunition be done jointly as was done for vaccines. It would also be a way for the arms industry to buy more European equipment.
But to go further, it seems impossible because Europeans remain divided between the Europeanist camps, led by France, which pushes for more autonomy and sovereignty, so that Europe is responsible for its own security. And the camp of the Atlanticists, like Poland or the Baltic countries, which largely prefer to remain under the protection of NATO and the Americans (for the record 21 European countries out of 27 are part of the Organization). And we must not lie to ourselves: it is first of all NATO which has been reinforced in recent months with the war, much more than European defence.