At a press conference on Friday 16 February at the end of the informal Gymnich meeting of the foreign affairs ministers, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, confirmed that NATO was the foundation for the EU's collective defence.
Mogherini, who was attending the NATO dinner on cooperation between the Allies and the EU on Wednesday 14 February, explained that this meeting had been an opportunity to reassure NATO and the Allies on what the Treaties of the EU already say: the Lisbon Treaty, article 42.7, explains that for the member states that are part of it, NATO remains the foundation of collective defence. This is in black and white: there is no need to speculate on that any further, she added. The High Representative added that the work in progress on a European defence did not aim to replace NATO in terms of collective defence.
Mogherini added that non-EU allies, including the American Secretary of State for Defence, James Mattis, and the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, acknowledged that the work the EU can do to reinforce its defence will also reinforce the alliance.
In Brussels on Thursday 15 February, Mattis announced that there was a clear agreement to include a reference in the EU document to the fact that common defence is a mission for NATO and NATO alone. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)