Different Path to Cooperation through Association: Legal Implications within the Common Defence and Security Policy for Potential EU’s Membership Candidates.   

On the 23rd and 24th of June, EU leaders gathered at the European Council to discuss, among others, newly formulated membership requests from Ukraine, Moldavia and Georgia. While still considered as third countries, states that fill up a membership request or obtain candidate status (as well as non-candidate third States) cannot - and should - not be entirely ousted or dismissed of hand from various EU legal frameworks and tools related to common security and defence policy (CSDP).

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Fourth Wave PESCO Projects: A New Drive in the EU Defence Dynamic 

The EU Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) - as part of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) - went one step further, from cooperation to integration in defence, adopting the fourth wave of new security projects. On 16 November, the Council endorsed 14 new PESCO projects to further deepen defence cooperation between member states in five core areas: land, maritime, air, cyber, and space, which will enable joint training facilities and services.

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How can the European Defence Fund help the development of European Defence Capabilities?

The geopolitical context of the European Union (EU) has changed significantly in recent years, leading Member States to face new threats. Confronted with this situation, European leaders have agreed to work more closely together in defence and security. EU Member States are not cooperating appropriately, which has led to inefficient use of funds, wasteful duplication, and inadequate deployability of defence troops. The military industry is characterised by rising defence equipment costs as well as expensive Research and Development (R&D) costs, which limit the launch of new military programmes and have a direct impact on the EU Defence Technological and Industrial Base’s (EDTIB) competitiveness and innovation (EU Parliament and Council, 2021). The level of defence spending varies significantly amongst Member States. Increased solidarity is required to deliver joint defence capabilities, particularly through the engagement of the EU budget. The cost of non-cooperation between Member States in the field of defence and security is estimated at between €25 billion and €100 billion every year (Maelcamp, I.; Ungaro, A.R.).

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Turkey’s Participation in the PESCO Military Mobility Project

Since its establishment in December 2017 by the Council of the European Union under the Council Decision 2017/2315, the EU Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), which consists of all EU Member States (MS) minus Denmark and Malta, has supervised the development of 47 projects (PESCO Secretariat, 2021). Among these projects is the Military Mobility (MM) project, founded in 2018 and characterized by the nearly full participation of PESCO Members, apart from Ireland. Coordinated by the Netherlands, the MM project aims to simplify and standardise cross-border military transport procedures, side-stepping long bureaucratic procedures for the movement of military personnel and equipment through or over the EU MS (PESCO Secretariat, 2021), thereby enhancing the availability, interoperability, flexibility, and deploy-ability of the forces of the MS, as required by Article 2(c) of Protocol 10 of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU). This purpose is coherent with the binding Commitment 12, undertaken by PESCO participating states, which requires states to simplify and standardise “cross border military transport in Europe for enabling rapid deployment of military materiel and personnel” (PESCO Secretariat, 2021; Latici, 2019, 2).

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EUFOR Crisis Response Operation Core: Enhancing Resilience through Interoperability

Following the Juncker’s Commission White Paper Scenario “Who Wants to Do More, Does More”, the Permanent Structured Cooperation’s (PESCO) 25 members are currently developing 47 projects covering the areas of training, land, maritime, air, cyber, and space. Among land initiatives, EUFOR stands out in fostering a coherent full spectrum force package as envisaged by PESCO’s core aim.

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