NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated, as usual, that the EU's defence efforts should be complementary to those of NATO.
"Allies welcomed the European Union’s focus on defence, and on increasing cooperation among its members. We also agree that we need to ensure that EU efforts complement NATO," he told reporters.
For Mr Stoltenberg, this complementarity is particularly important “when it comes to investing more money in our defence; developing new capabilities; improving military mobility in Europe; and ensuring the fullest possible involvement of non-EU Allies”.
The United States is concerned that European cooperation could have a negative impact on its military industry and Europeans are slow to take a decision on the participation of third countries in permanent structured cooperation (PESCO) projects. Discussions are continuing while the decision was initially expected last autumn (see EUROPE 12115).
Upon her arrival at NATO, aware of the concerns of some Allies and the repeated remarks of Mr Stoltenberg, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, stressed that “a stronger European Union in the field of defence also makes NATO stronger, and [...] that a strong NATO makes Europe safer”.
According to her, "The projects we have put in place, the work to strengthen the capacity of European Union Member States that are also most of them NATO allies to invest in defence", will also enable states to shoulder their share of the burden "and in this contribute also to a stronger NATO", she said.
The German delegation to NATO, for its part, pointed out that Berlin was working for "a stronger European Defence, which strengthens NATO's European pillar, which is particularly important for military mobility". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)