Written by Ginevra Bertamini

Edited by Michele Puggia and Miguel Reyes Castro

At the end of May, the Council of the European Union adopted 11 new projects and welcomed Denmark as a new member state of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) initiative (European Council, 2023). These events are milestones for two reasons; first, these new operations have a focus on interoperability; and second, Denmark’s accession itself, as in the past the country was reluctant to join PESCO and European defence efforts. The 11 new projects focus on a range of military domains. These include training, land, maritime, air systems and cyber. More specifically, the projects concerning land interoperability will primarily focus on unmanned ground systems, communication and infrastructure networks (PESCO, 2023).

The significance of these projects lies in their potential to address long-standing issues that have divided European militaries and limited their land interoperability capabilities. Previous multilateral operations have exposed weaknesses in European Command, Control, and Communication (C3) systems, particularly in terms of information integration and decision-support services (Ben-Ari, 2005). In fact, the lack of multilateral dialogue and effective implementation policies has been identified as a hindrance to their effectiveness in the current international security landscape (Ben-Ari, 2005).

Another specific area of focus is unmanned systems, which could potentially address concerns surrounding offensive military capabilities identified in conflicts like Libya (Meijer and Brooks, 2021). It may also help address military capability shortfalls observed in countries such as Germany (Meijer and Brooks, 2021). And while Denmark did not officially contribute to the development of these new projects, it is still relevant to consider their importance for the country. In fact, Denmark’s defence minister has expressed interest in participating in military mobility projects, indicating the potential value that these initiatives hold for the country (Wenande, 2023b).

Furthermore, as mentioned above, another highlight of this news is that Denmark has historically been on the fence about joining European military and defence efforts. Due to the opt-out agreements settled after the Maastricht Treaty, Denmark was not legally obliged to participate in projects concerning Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) (Schaart, 2022). However, this hesitation started to unravel about a year ago, when the decision to abolish the CSDP opt-out was approved with an overwhelming majority in a referendum (Wenande, 2022).

Since then, the Danish government has slowly but steadily gotten closer to European defence organizations including the European Defence Agency (Wenande, 2023a). Additionally, Danish politicians have stressed the importance of joint European military capabilities due to the ongoing Ukrainian conflict (PESCO, 2023). What can therefore be concluded is that these events are likely part of a new era of European military collaboration spurred by the ongoing Russian invasion, both through the arrival of new member states and increased attention to European interoperability capabilities.

References

Ben-Ari, G. (2005). C3 Interoperability in Europe: The Challenge Ahead [EuroFuture]. Center for Strategic and International Studies. http://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/media/csis/pubs/06_eurofuture_c3.pdf

European Council – Council of the European Union. (2023, May 23). EU defence cooperation: Council welcomes Denmark into PESCO and launches the 5th wave of new PESCO projects. European Council – Council of the European Union. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/05/23/eu-defence-cooperation-council-welcomes-denmark-into-pesco-and-launches-the-5th-wave-of-new-pesco-projects/#new_tab.

Meijer, H. & Brooks, S. G. (2021). Illusions of Autonomy: Why Europe Cannot Provide for Its Security If the United States Pulls Back. International Security, 45(4), 7–43. https://doi.org/10.1162/isec_a_00405.

PESCO (2023). 11 new PESCO projects focus on critical defence capabilities and interoperability. PESCO. https://www.pesco.europa.eu/pressmedia/11-new-pesco-projects-focus-on-critical-defence-capabilities-and-interoperability/.

Schaart, E. (2022, May 31). The in crowd? Denmark votes on joining EU defense cooperation. Politico. https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-euroskepticism-loom-denmark-vote-defense-policy-russia-war/.

Wenande, C. (2022, June 2). The ayes have it! Danes overwhelmingly vote to abolish the EU defence reservation. CPHpost. https://cphpost.dk/2022-06-02/news/the-ayes-have-it-danes-overwhelmingly-vote-to-abolish-the-eu-defence-reservation/.

Wenande, C. (2023, May 23). Defence milestone: Denmark officially joins PESCO. CPHpost. https://cphpost.dk/2023-05-23/news/defence-milestone-denmark-officially-joins-pesco/.

Wenande, C. (2023, March 23). Denmark votes to join European Defence Agency. CPHpost. https://cphpost.dk/2023-03-23/news/denmark-votes-to-join-european-defence-agency/.