Defence matters: more urgent than ever

Defence matters. The Conclusions of the December 2013 European Council on Defence underlined this. In June 2015 the Heads of State and Government are again discussing the role of the European Union in security and defence issues. This European Council meeting comes at particularly turbulent times, both internally as well as externally to the EU. Internally, the EU is confronted with Islamic extremism, while both a potential ‘Grexit’ and ‘Brexit’ are casting dark clouds over any EU-gathering. Externally, the EU has seen its sought after ‘ring of friends’ to the East and the South turn into a ‘ring of fire’. Against this backdrop, the Presidents and Prime-Ministers are facing a challenging agenda.

Defence matters, and it matters more urgent than ever. This Report will review the progress that was made on the many taskings that the European Council provided at the end of 2013 on the three clusters: (1) the effectiveness of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP); (2) capabilities and (3) defence industry. To visualise progress (or lack thereof) the report makes use of the red, orange and green of a traffic light. Of particular interest is the expected assessment of the new strategic environment by the High Representative and the possibility that the European Council will give her the mandate to produce a new European Security Strategy. This report also aims to look beyond the 2015-agenda and make suggestions to further raise the level of ambition for EU defence.