CSDP and NATO in the Face of Rising Challenges
This report was originally published in 'Focus stratégique, n°93, September 2019, the magazine of the Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI). Clingendael's Senior Research Fellow & Head of Security Unit, Dick Zandee has written the chapter 'EU & NATO Capability Development: Separate or Together' (page 21-30).
Over the past five years, several political and security developments have made it increasingly necessary to look at European Union (EU)/North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) relations through a different lens.
The renewed emphasis on European strategic autonomy, a concept that lends itself to multiple and sometimes diverging interpretations, has been a cause for rising concern among NATO member states. While some of those concerns appear legitimate, there are many ways to increase Europe’s strategic autonomy without undermining the Alliance. As the EU and NATO have taken new steps to strengthen their cooperation over the past years, it appears more important than ever to reject false dichotomies when prioritizing efforts to strengthen European security, to look at opportunities to better coordinate EU and NATO capability development processes, and to identify which types of military capabilities European countries should invest in to make burden-sharing with the Alliance more effective.
