Written By: Federico Renda
Supervised By: Giustiniano Cesare Vasey
Edited By: . Edoardo Dall’Amico
ABSTRACT
To date, Europe’s defence architecture has been growing into a patchwork of more than 160 bi- and plurilateral defence partnerships with limited proposals for military interoperability enhancement. After decades of European patchwork defence, this approach appears insufficient, now more than ever, to make Europe capable of facing external threats that have proven to remain both present and dangerous. In need of a more structural solution, the European Parliament approved in November 2023 a major Reform Proposal introducing crucial amendments to the Union’s fundamental Treaties (TEU and TFEU) for the establishment of a European Defence Union.
The paper examines the key institutional innovations proposed by the EP, such as Qualified Majority Voting in CDSP matters, enhanced parliamentary powers, and a permanent EU rapid deployment force. It then assesses the legal, political, and constitutional obstacles that could impede its implementation, such as the resistance to abandoning unanimity in defence decisions or the scepticism toward entrusting the Commission with leadership of a Defence Union that would function as an entity itself, binding Member States (MSs) more tightly in a traditionally sensitive domain. Finally, it examines whether current geopolitical pressures make such a transformation feasible or still premature.
