Even the US under Donald Trump has become unpredictable for Europe and mutual trust has significantly decreased.Īs a result of all this, the age-old engine of the EU-the French-German tandem-turned to defence cooperation. The annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Russia’s hybrid war in eastern Ukraine increased overall uncertainty. France has become the target of Islamist terrorist attacks following its military involvement in Mali, but several other countries also suffered from terrorist violence. Europe was taken by surprise by the migration crisis-the outcome of all the tensions and conflicts near Europe that forced thousands of people move in its direction. Secondly, specific external threats from the east and south loomed over the Union. One of the reasons defence issues became the centre of attention in Europe was that this helped mobilise the EU, which was weakened following the Brexit vote in the summer of 2016. As soon as the EU Foreign Affairs Council had officially made the decision to launch PESCO on 11 December, the “Sleeping Beauty of the Treaty of Lisbon” (as it was dubbed by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker) had been woken. So far, the only states left out of the process are the UK, which is scheduled to leave the EU, Malta, which was wary of additional defence obligations, and Denmark, which has opted out of EU defence cooperation. Ireland and Portugal joined in December, as their decision was delayed due to domestic procedures. However, Europe’s political reality has changed so much over the last few years that, by November 2017, 23 EU member states (including Estonia) presented to the High Representative and the Council of the European Union their joint declaration of intent concerning the launch of structured defence cooperation. The mere thought of European defence cooperation was met with reluctance in several countries. Even if some member states wanted it, the political consensus was not strong enough to implement this cooperation until last year. Article 42.6 and Protocol 10 were written into the treaty at the request of member states “whose military capabilities fulfil higher criteria” with a view to “the most demanding missions”. Long story short, it is an EU defence cooperation mechanism, which was specified in the Treaty of Lisbon that entered into force in 2009.
For some, PESCO is exciting, while others just shrug or are outright opposed to it. PESCO stands for Permanent Structured Cooperation. The main issue for Estonia is whether PESCO in fact increases or reduces European security (despite the opportunities provided by this framework also to develop the defence capabilities Estonia needs)-the latter prospect being a reference to the weakening of the Euro-Atlantic security architecture and the growing distrust between Washington and European capitals. It is also a European political success story, from which Estonia also reaped some glory during its recent presidency. It is still early to evaluate its wider significance, but its launch has certainly created a new situation in EU member states’ defence cooperation. The EU’s new defence initiative, PESCO, has received a lot of attention in the past year. The EU’s new defence initiative is creating a new situation in member states’ defence cooperation
0 kommentar(er)
