The Fault Lines of the European Defence Initiatives

Abstract

This study examines how the European Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy was shaped by the European defence initiatives after 2016. By asking what divisive issues appeared in connection with the main initiatives of the so-called Comprehensive Defense Package, the study systematically evaluates the emerging fault lines between member states. In the European context, the analysis shows that fault lines related to the internal (European) dynamics of these initiatives are connected to the functional prospects of the EU’s crisis-management tools, as well as to the increasing competences of the supranational EU institutions. Regarding the transatlantic context, the duplication of autonomous European capabilities with NATO, as well as the direction towards strengthening the autonomy of the European defence industry, generated tensions between the United States and the European Union, which has highlighted divisions between member states’ preferences in these matters as well.