In a declaration adopted after the first day’s work of the NATO summit in Brussels on Wednesday 11 July, the 29 member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) call on the European Union to involve non-EU member states in European defence-related actions and programmes.
Seven Allies, we recall, are not members of the EU – Albania, Canada, Iceland, Montenegro, Norway, Turkey and the United States.
In their declaration, the leaders say: “For the strategic partnership between NATO and the EU, non-EU Allies’ fullest involvement in these efforts is essential”. They “look forward to mutual steps, representing tangible progress, in this area to support a strengthened strategic partnership”.
The declaration points out that the non-EU Allies continue to make significant contribution to the efforts deployed by the EU to bolster its capabilities and thus face up to the common security challenges.
The Allies also note “the EU is considering the conditions for like-minded third state participation in its new initiatives where appropriate and would encourage potential further steps in this regard”.
According to one NATO member, the organisation looks kindly on the efforts of the EU on condition, among other things, that this is done on the basis of transparency and complementarity and that the non-EU Allies are involved to some extent in the efforts, including when it comes to permanent structured cooperation and the European Defence Fund. In his view, the Alliance is interested in the way non-EU Allies could be involved in the capability dimension of the European Defence Fund.
Americans are concerned that the Europeans may develop their own capabilities. When addressing the press on this, US President Donald Trump boasted of the virtues of American equipment. “The United States makes the best military equipment in the world by far. By far. Our equipment is so much better than any other”, he told the media. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)