European Defence and German Defence Cooperation

Authors

  • Integrated Researcher at the Portuguese Institute of International Relations (IPRI-NOVA) and Assistant Professor in International Relations at the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences at the Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa. She holds a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science on Germany’s foreign policy after unification. She was a member of the Coordination of the International Relations Section of the Portuguese Political Science Association (2012-2014) and Director of the International Relations Section of the Portuguese Political Science Association (2014-2016). She has been a non-resident collaborator of the National Defense Institute since 2007. Her research focuses on Germany’s foreign policy, the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), NATO and European security, the foreign policy of the United States, Russia, China and the international order.

Abstract

European Defence Cooperation has in the last few years emerged as one of the most dynamic areas of European integration, with EU Member States increasingly pursuing multilateral security cooperation strategies. Considering Germany’s central
role in European integration, expectations vis-à-vis Germany to contribute more in the realm of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy to further integrate European defence and promote increasing defence cooperation among its members
has also increased. At the same time the election of Donald Trump and ‘Brexit’ are cause for greater concern regarding the evolution of European defence deepening. The article assesses Germany’s role in European Defence Cooperation and in particular the German-French relationship which can serve as a ‘defence motor’ if both countries strive for more defence integration and a common strategic culture. However, the risk persists that EU defence cooperation can go into reverse gear, as in this intergovernmental policy domain fleeting political will or contingencies of national sovereignty continue to shape policy choices of EU states.

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Published

2024-08-22

Issue

No. 150 (2018): European Defence

Section

Artigos