The EU is urged to sharpen its defense-cooperation playbook

BERLIN — The European Union must move to integrate its disparate defense cooperation mechanisms to make the bloc more militarily formidable, a recent review document approved by the European Council says.

The self-assessment evaluated the strategic objectives and inner workings of the Permanent Structured Cooperation mechanism, or PESCO. The EU created the scheme in 2017 to coordinate its member states’ defense capabilities and projects to increase their military effectiveness and operational readiness.

The main thrust of the council’s new report is a call to double down on PESCO and make it a stronger force for a defensive Europe. It specifically calls out the need for closer alignment with several other EU mechanisms, such as the European Defence Fund and the proposed European Defence Industry Program.

The council, which shares legislative power with the EU parliament, also emphasized the need to strengthen the European defense industry. The EDIP funding source, proposed by the EU’s executive Commission, would provide €1.5 billion ($1.59 billion) to that end.

In the 1,000 days since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has gradually revised its formerly hands-off approach to defense matters. The war precipitated the first purchase of arms by Brussels, which were sent to Ukraine; resulted in a strategic rethinking of financing for military industry; and has strengthened voices that call for a more joint approach in addition to a more assertive Common Foreign and Security Policy. It has also resulted in the bloc flexing its economic muscle and providing financial support to the tune of billions of dollars to bolster domestic research and development.

At present, there are 66 ongoing PESCO projects covering practically all domains of modern warfare and military necessities. These include, among others, a project to utilize semi-autonomous systems for mine detection and neutralization, work on a European Patrol Corvette ship class, and a project to establish rapid response teams for various cyber threats. Others seek to streamline cross-border military logistics, develop a space-based missile detection system , and establish a command structure for medical services.

Ukraine, while not an EU member, has benefited from this European defense awakening, and the new assessment stresses the importance of drawing Kyiv closer to the EU’s defense initiatives. PESCO has an existing mechanism for participation by “third countries” (meaning non-EU states) in joint projects, which has already been used to coordinate and cooperate with Ukraine, including during wartime.

Closer to home, the report also called for updated operational commitments to support the EU’s Rapid Deployment Capacity and conduct live exercises, as well as increasing defense spending and collaborative defense investment among the 26 PESCO member states.

By streamlining commitments and keeping goals measurable and concrete, Europe would be taking “a step towards a stronger and more strategic and effective PESCO beyond 2025,” the report’s authors said.

“A stronger and more capable EU in the field of security and defense will contribute positively to global and transatlantic security and is complementary to NATO, which remains the foundation of collective defense for its members,” they wrote. Austria, Cyprus, and Ireland are EU and PESCO members but aren’t part of NATO, although they collaborate with the alliance to varying degrees.

The council’s paper comes just days after the EU, for the first time ever , agreed on a joint defense procurement to the tune of €300 million (about $318 million) across several projects spanning land, sea and air domains.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

柏林——欧洲理事会最近批准的一份审查文件指出，欧盟必须着手整合其分散的防务合作机制，以使欧盟在军事上更加强大。

此次自评旨在评估欧盟永久结构性合作机制（PESCO）的战略目标和内部运作机制。欧盟于2017年设立该机制，旨在协调成员国的国防能力和项目，以提高其军事效能和作战准备水平。

理事会新报告的主要内容是呼吁加大力度推进永久性结构性合作（PESCO），使其成为欧洲防御体系中更强大的力量。报告特别指出，需要与欧盟其他几个机制更紧密地协调一致，例如欧洲防务基金和拟议中的欧洲防务工业计划。

与欧盟议会共享立法权的理事会还强调了加强欧洲国防工业的必要性。欧盟委员会提议设立的欧洲国防工业发展计划（EDIP）将为此提供15亿欧元（15.9亿美元）的资金。

自俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰以来的1000天里，欧盟逐步调整了其以往在国防事务上的不干预政策。这场战争促使布鲁塞尔首次购买武器并运往乌克兰；促使欧盟重新思考军工产业的融资策略；并强化了要求采取更加联合的应对措施以及更加积极的共同外交与安全政策的呼声。此外，欧盟还展现了其经济实力，提供了数十亿美元的财政支持，以加强乌克兰国内的研发工作。

目前，共有66个正在进行的PESCO项目，几乎涵盖现代战争和军事需求的各个领域。这些项目包括利用半自主系统进行水雷探测和清除、欧洲巡逻舰级舰艇的建造以及建立应对各种网络威胁的快速反应小组等。其他项目则致力于简化跨境军事后勤、开发天基导弹探测系统以及建立医疗服务指挥体系。

乌克兰虽然不是欧盟成员国，但也受益于欧洲防务领域的觉醒。新的评估强调了让基辅更紧密地融入欧盟防务倡议的重要性。永久性结构化合作（PESCO）机制允许“第三国”（指非欧盟国家）参与联合项目，该机制已被用于与乌克兰进行协调与合作，包括在战时。

就国内而言，该报告还呼吁更新行动承诺，以支持欧盟的快速部署能力并开展实战演习，同时增加国防开支，加强26个PESCO成员国之间的国防合作投资。

报告作者表示，通过简化承诺并保持目标的可衡量性和具体性，欧洲将“朝着2025年后更强大、更具战略性和更有效的PESCO迈出一步”。

他们写道：“一个在安全和防务领域更强大、更有能力的欧盟将对全球和跨大西洋安全做出积极贡献，并且是对北约的补充，北约仍然是其成员国集体防御的基础。”奥地利、塞浦路斯和爱尔兰是欧盟和永久结构性合作机制（PESCO）成员国，但并非北约成员国，尽管它们与北约的合作程度各不相同。

就在欧盟首次就一项总额达 3 亿欧元（约合 3.18 亿美元）的联合国防采购达成一致，涵盖陆地、海洋和空中多个项目之后几天，该理事会的文件就发布了。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。