On Thursday 20 June, Clarke Cooper, American Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, called for a conversation with the European institutions and Member States to discuss questions raised by the European Defence Fund and Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO).
The Americans are putting pressure on the EU regarding the participation of non-Member States in European initiatives (see EUROPE 12256/6). “The Americans are putting considerable pressure on some Member States. Our American friends are more interested in PESCO than European countries are. It is fascinating to see them looking so concerned”, a diplomatic source pointed out a few days ago.
In a discussion with the press, following meetings in Brussels with “technocrats”, Mr Cooper explained that the development of European defence initiatives should not harm capabilities and interoperability.
“Timing is of the essence for us to have a more detailed conversation. Not to be date specific, but I can say it’s going to be sooner than later, and that’s going to provide an opportunity for issues that have either been identified by the United States, by EU member states, or by industry to address where we don’t want to, we don’t want to have an issue where capabilities are reduced”, he explained.
According to the Assistant Secretary, “in some cases there’s a certain level of edification that is required not only within member state governments, but also industry”. He said that he was not just talking about American industry, but about industry overall.
In summary, Mr Cooper said that EU defence initiatives needed to be complementary and to not duplicate NATO’s work.
The European Commission confirmed to EUROPE that, on 20 June, the Assistant Secretary met with Tomasz Husak, the Head of Cabinet for the Commissioner for Industry, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, and Pierre Delsaux, Deputy Director-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, “as part of the bilateral contacts and ongoing dialogue between the EU and the United States on defence initiatives”.
Mr Cooper did not, however, meet any members of the European External Action Service. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)