№4: The European Army – How to Do It Right?
№4: The European Army – How to Do It Right?

Author(s): Marcin Terlikowski
Subject(s): Governance, International relations/trade, Security and defense, Military policy, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment, Geopolitics
Published by: PISM Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych
Keywords: European Army; European Union; European integration; military policy; European security; international relations;
Summary/Abstract: The current difficulties in the European Union, caused by the result of the Irish referendum, show that bold projects regarding European integration can be misunderstood and cause serious concerns. One of such initiatives is the idea of a European Army, which is likely to trigger equally ardent discussions. Hence, we propose to look at the issue from a different perspective. The idea of a European Army dates back to the beginning of the European integration process of the 1950s. Even though the Pleven plan collapsed, other projects, aiming to create joint European military capabilities, were later discussed regularly (e.g. attempts to reactivate the Western European Union in the 1980s). Today, almost a decade since the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) was launched, the discussion on the EU’s military capabilities is more dynamic than ever before. The reason is simple: the actual shape of the ESDP does not live up to the growing demand for a more active European Union made by many EU member states as well as by other significant actors in international relations.

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