On Thursday 7 May, around 30 MEPs from 11 Member States and from the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, and Greens/EFA Groups in the European Parliament announced the creation of a ‘European Defence Union Group’, at the initiative of Reinier van Lanschot (Greens/EFA, Dutch).
To mark this announcement and Europe Day on 9 May, they have drawn up a ‘op-ed’ calling on Member States to build a European Defence Union (EDU) “now”.
“The European Defence Union is not a theoretical project in Brussels, but a question of deterrence, survival, and political credibility”, stressed Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (Renew Europe, German), Chair of Parliament’s Committee on Security and Defence.
“Instead of waiting for war to unite us, we must unite to prevent war”, warn the MEPs in their ‘op-ed’.
According to Thijs Reuten (S&D, Dutch), “the unity and sense of urgency shown by MEPs” with the creation of the group - which has already carried out visits to NATO, the EU’s Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC), and exchanges of views - is “precisely what the Member States are lacking”.
MEPs regret that progress on defence remains slow and that the words of national governments are not followed by action. “We need to look beyond national interests and work across political divides. Defence is not just about weapons; it’s about trust and shared responsibility”, said Lukas Sieper (Renew Europe, German).
MEPs are therefore calling for urgent adoption of the simplification of European defence legislation (‘omnibus’). They are also calling for the creation of a genuine single defence market, “by reducing dependencies through the principle of European preference, strengthening interoperability and achieving economies of scale”.
Finally, the group calls for the construction of a European Defence Union “that strengthens NATO, but can operate independently of the United States”. In their view, such a Union is needed, with joint decision-making, integrated command structures, strategic capabilities and a rapid reaction force.
Rasa Juknevičienė (EPP, Lithuanian) felt that European defence should also rely on Ukraine, but also the UK and Norway.
See the op-ed: https://aeur.eu/f/lu2 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)