Key EU military official urges sharpening of mutual-defense clause

MILAN — A senior military official of the European Union has urged the bloc to refine its mutual-defense clause and start considering the division of labor in the event of a conflict.

Austrian army Gen. Robert Brieger, chairman of the European Union Military Committee, made the recommendation at the European Defense Agency’s (EDA) annual conference in Brussels on Jan 22.

Speaking about the need to operationalize Article 42.7 of the Treaty of the European Union, the bloc’s collective-defense stipulation, he argued that there is “a necessity to clarify it; otherwise, it is nice to have, but we do not have the relevant tools to implement it.”

The language in question solely posits that if a member state is attacked, others have an obligation to assist it by all the means in their power.

Brieger asked what the EU’s specific tasks would be in a European context if a war broke out.

“What could the bloc do in the case of collective defense? Could it be in charge of defending critical infrastructure or cyber-resilience? Could it be responsible for enhancement of military mobility requirements?” he said.

Over the last year, military experts have pondered what the future of Europe would look like with a potentially scaled-back U.S. involvement across the continent and in NATO, and who may be able to fill the void.

Some officials have floated the idea that the United Kingdom could position itself closer to the bloc, including on a military level.

EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas echoed that sentiment in her opening speech at the EDA conference, in which she said the bloc should explore new security agreements with post-Brexit Britain.

A recent study carried out by the Policy Institute at King’s College London found that a majority of Brits believe the country should prioritize Europe as an ally over America if needed, a reversal of public opinion from 60 years ago.

Sven Biscop, a professor at Ghent University, cautioned that there are limits to how much London can do after leaving the EU. “We should not get overly excited as Brexit cannot be undone anytime soon,” he said.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——一位欧盟高级军事官员敦促欧盟完善其共同防御条款，并开始考虑在发生冲突时如何分工。

奥地利陆军上将罗伯特·布里格是欧盟军事委员会主席，他在 1 月 22 日于布鲁塞尔举行的欧洲防务局 (EDA) 年会上提出了这项建议。

谈到落实《欧盟条约》第 42.7 条（欧盟集体防御条款）的必要性时，他认为“有必要对其进行澄清；否则，虽然有这项条款很好，但我们没有相关的工具来实施它。”

相关措辞仅表明，如果一个成员国遭到攻击，其他成员国有义务尽一切可能向其提供援助。

布里格问道，如果战争爆发，欧​​盟在欧洲的具体任务是什么。

他问道：“在集体防御方面，欧盟可以做些什么？它可以负责保护关键基础设施或网络韧性吗？它可以负责提升军事机动性吗？”

过去一年来，军事专家一直在思考，如果美国减少对欧洲大陆和北约的参与，欧洲的未来会是什么样子，以及谁能够填补这一空白。

一些官员提出了这样一种想法：英国可以让自己与欧盟的关系更加紧密，包括在军事层面上。

欧盟首席外交官卡娅·卡拉斯在欧洲防务协会会议的开幕致辞中也表达了类似的观点，她表示欧盟应该与脱欧后的英国探讨新的安全协议。

伦敦国王学院政策研究所最近的一项研究发现，大多数英国人认为，如果需要的话，英国应该优先选择欧洲而不是美国作为盟友，这与 60 年前的民意截然相反。

根特大学教授斯文·比斯科普警告说，伦敦脱欧后能做的事情是有限的。“我们不应该过于乐观，因为脱欧在短期内不可能逆转，”他说。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。