The Franco-Italian Quirinale Treaty and the post-Merkel power balance: what is new for the European security and defence environment.

The long negotiations between Italy and France, started in January 2018 with President Macron’s visit to Italy’s Paolo Gentiloni, have reached their final act. After troubled years, the rise and fall of a Populist government in Italy, the pandemic, and various tensions between Italy and France, the Quirinale Treaty – named after the Italian Presidential palace in Rome – has been signed, signalling a new phase of bilateral cooperation between the two countries (Roberts, Leali, 2021).

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Post-Merkel Europe: A New Strategic Playbook for Brussels?

While the Bundestag’s elections are ending Merkel’s legacy, they symbolise a new era for Brussels. For 16 years, Angela Merkel’s doctrine has been defending the “European unity” and balancing the European and Atlantic security policies (Buras & Puglerin, 2021). In the wake of heated geopolitical tensions, the future Berlin’s government will be expected to take on more responsibility to defend European interests. Given the rising strategic powers of Moscow and Beijing, and the shrinking of Washington’s presence on European soil, Brussels’ shift from “the responsibility to protect” to “the responsibility to act” is needed more than ever (Puglerin, 2021). On that note, this Info Flash raises the question of whether post-Merkel’s Berlin will deepen the EU’s security role, given Germany’s culture of restraint?

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Germany Invests in New Military Space Command

Germany has recently announced the development of a military space command, and they are far from the first country to do so. Indeed, several countries have recently decided to allocate significant resources and funding for the exploration of space. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Germany’s defence minister, gave a statement in response to the creation of the space command, claiming that the underlying causes for its creation were due to “the increasing dependence of the armed forces on space-supported data, services and products and for the overall prosperity of the German people” (Machi, 2021).

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The Threat of Bioterrorism: A Global Security Challenge

Written by Wout Declercq, Yéelen Geairon, Carlos Bravo Navarro, Anaïs Quintart, Aris Vassiliou  Due to technological and scientific advancements of past decades, the possibilities to produce and modify pathogenic microorganisms…

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Read more about the article Eurotank is on its Way
The Franco-German joint venture KNDS displayed its new European Main Battle Tank at the June 2018 Eurosatory exhibit in Paris. [https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/7DnF2X2HKanY5TK19SVJODpm0pA=/1200x0/filters:quality(100)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/G7QXPXVEV5HPRA4YFUUQVZVAWI.jpg]

Eurotank is on its Way

The benefits of a new Eurotank would be of great importance for the interoperability of European armies. A tank created by France and Germany (MGCS) would allow each involved to use it in joint operations.

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