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Given the Ukraine crisis, Russia’s resurgence and the burning crises in the South there has never been a better time to discuss European defence. From November 2014 to March 2015, the online magazine European Geostrategy published a number of excellent essays on the European Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), all from a national perspective. You can now read all of the essays in this one neat publication. Indeed, in this essay collection jointly published by European Geostrategy, the Egmont Institute and the Institute for European Studies, a host of leading experts give their national perspectives on the present state and future of the EU’s CSDP. Each of the thirty-four essays focuses on the continued relevance of the CSDP when compared to the security challenges facing Europe today. Some essays give a bleak picture of the future, whereas others see grounds for optimism. Either way the essays are bound to provoke reactions of all kinds.

The European Union (EU) is developing a Strategic compass for security and defence, to be ready by March 2022. The first semester of 2021 is the phase of the ‘strategic dialogue’ with the member states and institutions of the EU, including the involvement of think tanks and other stakeholders. Commissioned by the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the Clingendael Institute delivers its contribution to the strategic dialogue on the Strategic Compass by focussing on defining more precisely the military level of ambition of the EU and what it implies for capability development and the relationship with NATO. The EU faces a wider set of challenges and threats than ever before. In the global power rivalry between China, Russia and the United States, it is ‘Europe’ that runs the danger of becoming irrelevant and the object of great power actions rather than being a global actor. The arc of instability around Europe is unlikely to turn into an arc of stability. The challenges posed by state and non-state actors – the latter in particular in the southern neighbourhood – require the EU to respond to external conflicts and crises, to support partners to provide security for their own population and to protect the Union and its citizens – the three strategic priorities for the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) as defined five years ago in the Implementation Plan on Security and Defence. While the EU has made progress in many areas – trade policies, partnerships, civilian crisis management – its military tools have remained weak as a result of a lack of political will and the absence of adequate military means.

Europe's unprecedented security challenges call for a step change in the EU's approach to security and defence. This Clingendael report reflects the main topics of discussion at the high-level Netherlands EU Presidency Seminar on Defence held on 20 and 21 January 2016. The new EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy, to be submitted to the European Council in June, will require translation into actionable proposals for a stronger Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and deepening defence cooperation. A CSDP White Book is necessary to define the level of ambition, required capabilities and how to obtain these capabilities. Political commitment and follow-up are essential to achieve progress in defence cooperation. A system of accountability and positive peer pressure with 'naming and praising' as opposed to 'naming and shaming' has to be developed. To achieve this, the member states should commit to benchmarks, regular reporting and sharing information on defence plans and budgets. In addition, financial incentives, such as allocating EU budget for defence related research should be explored.--

Strengthening European defence cooperation entails many aspects from deploying forces together to collaborative armaments acquisition programmes. This report focusses on the latter in light of the key challenges facing Europe over the next ten years, as identified in the Strategic Monitor 2020-2021, Geopolitical Genesis: Dutch Foreign and Security Policy in a Post-COVID World. For a Europe that seeks to better provide for its own security and to become a true geopolitical security actor in its own right, political will to act together remains the key prerequisite. However, without adequate military capabilities Europe will never be able to become a true geopolitical player. Thus, supplying the armed forces of European countries with modern weaponry that is interoperable and standardised, is a key prerequisite. In this context, this report has seeked to identify the drivers of European decisions to collaboratively develop and procure these modern weapons, both in theory and in practice by analysing three case studies.