Ioan Mircea Pas cu MEP, Brussels/Strasbourg European Defence: the time to act Guest Commentary

GUEST COMMENTARY European Defence: the time to act

by Ioan Mircea Pașcu MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament Brussels/Strasbourg

In a continuously deteriorating security

environment, the time has come for the EU to accelerate the move from words to deeds, from nice, inspiring speeches on the value of common security and defence to concrete, material steps strengthening the two, building upon the trend already in place. In that respect, assuring real interoperability in the field between the forces of EU Member States and an invigorated political will to act together would ensure that the EU is capable of delivering the security and defence its citizens are asking for. To that effect, for instance, the recent EU initiatives related to the two windows of the newly established European Defence Fund – research and capabilities – can spark the necessary cooperation in the defence industry capable of providing the compatible equipment we all need in important fields like Communication, C2, air transport, CBRN etc. At the same time, PESCO projects will also develop much needed defence capabilities. As long as 22 of the current EU Member States are NATO members too, basing their defence – both “de facto” and “de jure” – on the Atlantic Alliance, the strengthening of their military capabilities is contributing equally to both EU defence and security as well as to NATO. Therefore, the collaboration between the two organisations – the EU and NATO – particularly in the fields of cyber defence and military mobility, will remain pivotal to the defence and security of our continent. Mr Pascu was Defence Minister of Romania before becoming a Member of the European Parliament in 2007. The new world order is being born under our very eyes. Once again, the process of power redistribution within the international system – initiated by the end of the Cold War and accelerated by the recent economic and financial crisis – has sped up the appearance of new, emerging power centres competing with the established ones in this crystallising new world order. The established “institutional architecture” created at the end of World War II is basically still in place, but for how long, given the pressure exercised at both the political-military level (see Russia’s assertiveness) and, more recently, at the commercial-economic one (see the looming “trade wars”), no one really knows... In this “brave new world” currently taking shape, the EU – a multilateral actor – is confronted with both opportunity and challenge; on the one hand, the EU still has the power to preserve the system, being looked upon as such by many, on the other, the very basis of this power – derived from the prosperity generated by free trade – is being challenged by the “trade wars” approaching on the horizon. Besides, no one can predict how long it will take before such “trade wars” provoke another world crisis and/or even real wars in some parts of the world. The “America First” slogan appears to indicate that the US is on the verge of abandoning “multilateralism” and the associated principle of “collective leadership” in favor of pursuing only its individual national interest, a situation in which the EU might no longer be seen primarily as a partner, but rather as a commercial competitor, multiplying the question marks around the transatlantic relationship. “ In a continuously deteriorating security environment, the time has come for the EU to accelerate the move from words to deeds.”