The conference held on February 14, 2024, entitled “La communautarisation de la défense européenne ?”, was presented by Elsa Bernard, a professor of public law at the University of Lille and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair on “L’appartenance à l’UE”.
The conference was divided into three points, starting from a broad overview of European defense to a more specific discussion on the challenges posed by this topic.
Firstly, Elsa Bernard wished to revisit the term “communalization,” which she admitted was somewhat provocative due to the fact that this pillar entails the loss of sovereignty by states through the delegation of powers to European institutions. The Commission becomes the initiating body, and the texts adopted follow the ordinary legislative procedure. Thus, a state may implement a decision contrary to its will. The title of this conference invites us to think not of a pooling of defense but rather of its Europeanization.
Secondly, our speaker specifically addressed the issue of European defense. Through legal analysis, she showed us that European defense is enshrined in the preamble and Article 42 of the Maastricht Treaty, but the ambivalence of its formulation leads us to question integration in this domain, especially since 23 EU states are members of NATO. However, Elsa Bernard wanted to demonstrate to us that European defense is actually an active domain, albeit in a non-coercive dimension: it has been conducting missions since 2003 as part of interventions similar to UN peacekeeping missions. However, the recent deterioration of the geopolitical climate has strengthened the desire to establish a European defense, exemplified by the creation of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), etc.
Elsa Bernard concluded her intervention by questioning the relevance of current European defense. She showed that, following the same process of communalization as in other areas, the Commission uses the market to integrate defense, particularly through industry and research, which fall under its purview. Europe has been investing in defense tools and plans since 2009, leading to the establishment of special funds for states to produce ammunition collectively. Among these funds, the European Defense Fund (EDF) stands out.
This European defense strategy aligns with the recent adoption of the “European Defence Industry Reinforcement Through Common Procurement Act” (EDIRPA) and the “Act in Support of Ammunition Production” (ASAP), during which several hundred million euros were invested by the EU in a perspective of joint purchases and productions of ammunition to aid Ukraine and maintain sufficient stocks at the national level. These regulations illustrate the ambiguity surrounding common defense, with an ambitious goal of pooling resources on one hand, but on the other hand, communal aspirations of the Commission being curtailed by the European Council.
This conference was particularly enlightening in the current geopolitical context, during which former US President Donald Trump, while campaigning, encouraged Russia to invade states that were not paying their fair share to NATO. Since the majority of these states are European, the question of a European defense makes increasingly more sense in this highly tense context.
