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Description

In November of 2017, the European Union (EU) officially launched the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) project, its latest attempt to deepen defense cooperation among EU members. Earlier that same year, the EU approved two other important initiatives designed to strengthen defense cooperation: the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and the European Defence Fund (EDF). Shortly after the launch of PESCO, many U.S. defense officials expressed skepticism about its value.1 This is not surprising; U.S. officials have reflexively opposed European defense initiatives such as PESCO since the end of the Cold War. U.S. opposition to these initiatives reflects its fear that they could lead the EU to become a competitor to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for European security issues and resources, and in so doing reduce U.S. influence in European security.

Document Type

Policy Brief

Region(s)

Europe

Topic(s)

Transatlantic Security, Defense Policy, National Security

Publication Date

1-2020

Publication

Strategic Forum

Publisher

National Defense University Press

City

Washington, DC

Keywords

permanent structured cooperation (PESCO), European Union defense cooperation, transatlantic security implications, EU defense integration, Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), European Defence Fun (EDF), NATO and EU defense roles, U.S.-European defense relations, Defense integration and burden sharing, European military capability development

The European Union’s Permanent Structured Cooperation: Implications for Transatlantic Security

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