On Tuesday 14 November, the EU Council declared that the 26 Member States participating in permanent structured cooperation (PESCO) had “intensified their efforts to meet the more binding commitments, including through PESCO projects demonstrating progress in all relevant areas”.
In a recommendation, the EU Council stresses that progress has been made in all five relevant areas: spending, planning, the operational dimension, filling capability gaps and strengthening the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). However, “further progress is needed for the fulfilment of all commitments by the end of the second PESCO initial phase, in 2025”.
In particular, the document highlights a 12% growth in defence spending in 2023, adding that 25% of total defence spending allocated to defence investment in 2022 has been used to accelerate the acquisition of necessary capabilities and the rebuilding of stockpiles.
The EU Council reaffirms the need to spend more and better in the field of defence and to improve the development and planning of the Union’s capabilities in order to cope better with operational realities and new threats and challenges.
At the same time, it calls on all participating Member States to make a combined effort to reverse the decline in defence research and technology spending from 1.7% to 1.1%, and regrets that they have not yet given sufficient priority to a collaborative European approach to filling capability gaps.
The EU Council also welcomes the fact that the 68 PESCO projects currently underway are already producing concrete results in areas such as cyberspace, unmanned systems, military mobility, monitoring of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear risks and medical services.
Launch of the strategic review process
The EU Council also decided to launch a strategic review of PESCO, to be completed by the end of 2025 at the latest.
In its view, the stages and timetable of the process should follow three phases: - a reflection phase (November 2023 - May 2024) with discussions between the participating Member States on the scope and depth of the process; - a decision phase (June - November 2024) leading to agreement on the elements of the PESCO to be reviewed; - an implementation phase (in 2025) aimed at formalising the results of the strategic review process of the PESCO by amending the relevant legal acts where necessary.
The timely completion of the process will enable the launch of the next phase of a reinvigorated and strengthened PESCO from 2026, according to the EU Council.
See the recommendation: https://aeur.eu/f/9k5 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)