Tag: Europe
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Up in the Air: What Could FCAS Mean for Common EU Defence Projects?
The FCAS project appears to be over, at least in its original incarnation, although technological elements of the project may be salvaged, such as the development of a combat cloud. The case of FCAS serves as a cautionary tale for how to develop collaborative defence industrial programmes in Europe, especially…
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European Defence Projects of Common Interest: From Concept to Practice
The development of European Defence Projects of Common Interest (EDPCIs) represents a decisive step towards strengthening the EU’s crisis response, economic competitiveness and strategic autonomy. EDPCIs aim to overcome fragmented national defence efforts by promoting joint development, production and procurement of key military capabilities, enhancing the EU’s governance structure for…
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More Money, More Dependence? Financing EU Defence for Autonomy and Cooperation
Europe is entering an era of unprecedented defence investment, with EU institutions and member states projected to spend nearly €6.8 trillion on defence by 2035. This surge comes amid a deteriorating security environment shaped by Russia’s war on Ukraine, growing transatlantic uncertainty and intensifying dependencies on non-EU defence suppliers – particularly the United…
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Beyond the Summit: Navigating the Future of NATO and European Defence
The Hague NATO Summit on 25 June 2025 will possibly go down in history as the moment when Europeans were put on serious notice by the United States that Washington was no longer going to subsidise European security. As a long-standing objective of the Trump administration, European allies were cajoled…
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The Three Images of EU Strategic Autonomy: Perspectives on Wedging, Binding and Hedging
This article considers concepts of European Union Strategic Autonomy in light of the growing scholarly literature on wedging and binding. The article presents three ideal types of strategic autonomy as the images of ‘responsibility’, ‘hedging’ and ‘independence’. It assesses each of these images against the wedging and binding strategies of…
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Counting on the Cloud? NATO, Digital Modernisation and Cloud Computing
NATO is enhancing its defence and deterrence in the face of grave geopolitical risks. While the major focus in 2025 is on ramping up the manufacturing of ammunition, missiles, tanks, armoured vehicles and more, there is a risk that the digital elements of the Alliance’s security and defence are marginalised…
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Hanging Together or Hanging Separately? Europe and the Indo-Pacific in United States-China Rivalry
The United States appears to be consistent on the idea that “great power” or “strategic” competition and, more specifically, “competition with China” stands out as its overriding national security priority. Insofar as Trump administration’s strategic approach towards Ukraine and Europe appears to be significantly informed by China and Indo Pacific-related…
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Special Delivery? The European Council and the March 2025 Defence Summit
The 6 March 2025 European Council special meeting focused on European defence and support to Ukraine. European leaders have put-off answering fundamental questions related to European security guarantees. The special European Council meeting set the parameters for a substantial increase in European defence spending. CSDS Policy Brief Read
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Spending Our Way Out of a Crisis? The Challenges and Benefits of ReArming Europe
The European Commission has announced a €800 billion increase in defence spending, but this figure masks the challenges facing Europe’s defence market. The injection of €150 billion worth of loans for defence raises questions about the real needs of Europe’s defence. The European Commission is set to introduce a raft…
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All in? The revival of the Spanish and European defence industry
Meeting at an informal leaders’ retreat in Brussels in early February 2025, EU leaders were keen to establish the political guidelines for a host of defence policy developments in 2025. In the context of the continuing war against Ukraine, and the uncertainties posed by the new US Administration, Europeans are…
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Unity is Not Enough: How will Europe Navigate the Trumpian Era of Geopolitical Competition?
The second Trump presidency will in many ways be unique, but Europeans will likely still pursue the short-term tactics of keeping a low profile or enhancing bilateralism with the United States (US). Europeans may try to play President Trump at his own game through transactionalism, or to engage with China…
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Manufacturing Defence: Europe, the Republic of Korea and Defence Industrial Cooperation
South Korea has emerged as a major supplier to European militaries, and this has helped with Europe’s imminent need for military rejuvenation. Given the quality of South Korean defence equipment and supplies, Seoul is viewed with credibility in the defence sector and this bodes well for future cooperation. There remain…
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Wait and See? The Dynamics of Europe’s Evolving Approach to the Sahel
13/2024 Having faced a series of coup d’états in recent years, the Sahel region is marked by instability and it raises fundamental security questions for Europe. In a context where European governments are responding to Russia’s war on Ukraine, and where crisis management is viewed with less salience, the Sahel…
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L’Union européenne de la défense: Commentaire article par article
L’Union européenne de la défense, qui se construit depuis quelques années dans un contexte sécuritaire préoccupant, dépend du droit de l’Union, c’est-à dire tant des règles fixées par les États membres dans les traités que de celles adoptées par les institutions européennes. En effet, l’Union européenne de la défense ne…
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Towards Ambition and Consistency in European Defence Investments
Following the results of the European elections, Ursula von der Leyen delivered a statement at the European Parliament on 18 July 2024 to support her second mandate as European Commission President. Outlining her vision for the future, the President stated that Europe “can choose to invest in the security and…
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Beyond Strategy? Industrial Strategy and the Future of European Defence
On 5 March 2024, the European Union published its first ever European Defence Industrial Strategy. In the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Europe understands that investing in its defence industrial and technological base is a core way of enhancing Europe’s defence, playing a bigger role in transatlantic burden-sharing and lowering manufacturing and technology…
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War Economy: Ukraine, the European Union and the Defence Technological and Industrial Base
Ukraine’s defence industry has become a central feature of the country’s military strategy against Russia, and the European Union (EU) understood early on the potential of cooperation with Ukraine in this sector. This CSDS Policy Brief explains how there are several challenges to integrating Ukraine’s defence industry into the European Defence…
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A Maltese View on French-German Leadership
Pour Malte, il n’y a pas d’alternative au moteur franco-allemand, explique Daniel Fiott dans le 7ème épisode de notre cycle « Vous avez dit leadership ? ». En tant qu’État insulaire particulièrement sensible aux intérêts des pays à la périphérie de l’Europe, Malte occupe une position clé en termes de…
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From Liberalisation to Industrial Policy: Towards a Geoeconomic Turn in the European Defence Market?
The European defence market can be described as a geoeconomically relevant sector that forms part of Europe’s overall economy, not least in the way that it is a producer of military capabilities and technologies and a repository of scientific skills. Traditionally, European Union (EU)-level steps to support and liberalise the…
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In Whose Interests? Regulating Europe’s Defence Industry and the Politics of Exemptions
The European Union (EU) needs to ramp-up its defence-industrial production and it is looking to do this with a new financial tool termed the European Defence Investment Programme (EDIP). The introduction of the EDIP will raise questions about the European Commission’s commitment to market liberalisation in the defence sector. Joint…
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Military Attacks and the European Union
The EU’s “Mutual Assistance Clause” is designed to ensure an EU-wide response in case of an act of armed aggression against any member state. Yet, the treaties are unclear about what a response should look like in practice, even though the unique character of individual member states is maintained. As…
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My work with the Real Instituto Elcano in 2023
Another year over. As a Non-Resident Fellow at the Real Instituto Elcano, I have had the great pleasure of working closely with my colleagues in the Brussels office and at our headquarters in Madrid. I want to thank all of my colleagues and the Institute’s leadership. It has been a…
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My Work with CSDS in 2023 – A Year in Review
Wishing my followers a Happy New Year and all the best for 2024! Here’s a round-up of my work with CSDS in 2023. It was a productive year for publications. I published 3 peer-reviewed articles including: In Every Crisis an Opportunity? European Union Integration in Defence and the War on…
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Defence Matters: Ten Years of European Defence and What Has Really Been Achieved?
Ten years ago to the day, Heads of State and Government met at a specially designated session of the European Council: the focus, European defence. As the meeting conclusions make clear, the leaders saw defence as a critical area of EU policy and they proclaimed their readiness to increase defence budgets, de-fragment European…
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Europe’s Geopolitical Coming of Age Requires Greater Defense Efforts
Having already experienced what life is like under a Donald Trump US presidency, the Europeans presently seem rather blasé about what a potential second Trump administration could entail for the European Union and NATO. For all his (very real) sins, Trump gave voice to the long-standing tensions at the heart…
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Grand Designs: The EU’s Future Political Structures in Times of Crisis and Geopolitical Transition
The advent of institutional change in the European Union will inevitably give rise to new and old ideas about bureaucratic design. As the clock runs down on the present legislature and European Commission, expect calls for new bodies and the reshuffling of existing structures. Before this author reflects on some…
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The EU Defence Industrial Strategy: Some Preliminary Reflections
Daniel Fiott In advance of the 2024 EU Defence Industrial Strategy, and before I write a more focused and substantial piece of analysis, I wanted to lay out some key themes and issues that will confront the drafters of the new Strategy. First, let me say that the Strategy itself…
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EU Defence after Versailles: An Agenda for the Future
This analysis focuses on developments in European Union (EU) security and defence since the Versailles Summit, held on 10–11 March 2022. It shows how the Union’s response to Russia’s war on Ukraine has unleashed and spurred on a range of operational, industrial and political initiatives that will influence security and…
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Two Fronts, One Goal: Euro-Atlantic Security in the Indo-Pacific Age
This paper outlines how Europe can contribute to alleviating the “two-front” predicament in U .S. global strategy . It shows how Europeans can help free up the United States’ strategic bandwidth in Europe so as to enable a proper U .S. prioritization of China without weakening Europe’s deterrence architecture. The…
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Order: the Financing of Alliances and Western Power
Abstract Russia’s war on Ukraine and the rise of China are raising serious questions about order in international politics. If the West is to have a fighting chance at maintaining its military supremacy and upholding global order, it needs to answer some fundamental questions about the United States (US)-led alliance…
Daniel Fiott 