Index – Abroad – The EU wants autonomy in defense policy, but NATO does not take kindly to it

The European Union is putting on its camouflage pants, flexing its muscles, and NATO is not happy about it – this is the sentence Politico used to open the opinion piece that analyzes the contradictions between the European Union and NATO.

According to the authors, the two Brussels institutions have barely communicated with each other in the field of defense in recent years, as there was no need for it. The roles were clearly divided:

This attitude is well summed up by a well-known phrase in military circles: “The United States fights, the UN feeds it, the EU finances it.” It looks like that might change now.

According to Politico, there is a growing demand in Europe for the next European Commission to have a defense commissioner for the first time in its history. According to plans, the new defense commissioner would be former German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen, the current EC commissioner. The person holding the post would be responsible for allocating billions of euros to Europe’s defense industry to meet its own and Ukraine’s needs.

The committee also unveiled a European Defense Industrial Strategy, with at least €1.5 billion in resources, aimed at making the EU finally assert its weight in defence. The authors highlighted that the leaders of the EU are trying with all their efforts to find money in order to ensure their own protection. There is a great deal of agreement among the leaders regarding the goal, but there are already big discussions about how to get money for it.

They see that the war in Ukraine and the possible return of Donald Trump will force the EU to start thinking, since they cannot rely too much on the United States in the future when it comes to defense.

Alarm bells have rung in NATO, where the key United States has for decades taken precedence over coordinating the defense policies of most EU countries, following the EU’s actions.

The EU and NATO cannot present two conflicting lists of capability targets to Germany, Denmark or Poland

said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

According to Politico, these are strong words from the normally ultra-diplomatic Stoltenberg. “What is important is that, of course, NATO is the organization that must define the capability goals… how many tanks, how many aircraft, how many ships, what kind of readiness is needed and so on,” the Secretary General added.

Last week, Stoltenberg took further strong steps to ensure that NATO continues to maintain its hegemony as Kiev’s main security partner. His team put forward the idea of ​​a €100 billion, five-year fund aimed, among other things, at NATO taking over the US-led Ramstein format, which currently organizes the delivery of military aid to Ukraine.

At the same time, the same figure of 100 billion euros is also very popular among some EU leaders. Also Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, who says that such an amount should be used for the EU’s defense fund. Estonia also joined the idea. EU officials insist that even if there is no chance of parallelism with NATO, the bloc should still have a financial role in defense.

“Such a sustainable financial instrument must be built if European security is to be protected,” said Tomas Kopecny, the Czech envoy for the reconstruction of Ukraine and a former deputy defense minister.

If the United States were to participate in a common fund, let’s do it within the framework of NATO. If they want to continue this bilaterally, then let’s do it under the auspices of the EU

Kopecny added.

NATO is already looking bad

In a letter sent to von der Leyen on January 26, Stoltenberg already warned the European Union. He wrote: “I am concerned about the potential overlap with existing NATO activities. I would be particularly worried if the EU moved to standardize ammunition.”

According to him, NATO is responsible for the types and stockpiles of ammunition – how much and what types to keep – together with the guidelines that ensure uniformity across borders, so that, for example, a French cartridge can be fired from a German rifle barrel.

Concerns exist on both sides. “On defense issues, there is a feeling on the EU side that he is the newcomer and the young partner,” said Camille Grand, a former deputy secretary general of NATO who is now the European Union’s defense chief. Grand added that the EU appears to be concerned that if NATO’s expertise is accepted too much, it will lose its strategic autonomy.

However, Stoltenberg made it crystal clear who defines defense and security standards: not the EU. “We only need one institution that defines the standards for interoperability, communication, interchangeability of ammunition,” said the NATO leader. “There are no two standards, you achieve the exact opposite,” he added.

However, Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, defended the EU’s move to do more in the defense industry.

Peace is no longer self-evident, unfortunately. The war is on our borders. Russia’s offensive war has brought a sense of urgency to enhance our industrial defense capabilities

Borrell said.

For the EU, the possible return of Trump to the leadership of the United States makes it even more urgent for Europe to strengthen its defense capabilities as quickly as possible. In a speech in February, von der Leyen said that a “new European defense mindset” was urgently needed because “we do not control elections or decisions in other parts of the world.”

It’s a complicated situation

According to Politico, as the powers of the two institutions become blurred, the competition between them increases.

It is clear that there is also an effort on the part of the Atlantic Alliance to be competitive or even ahead of the European Union’s efforts in this area

– said Antonio Missiroli, former Deputy Secretary General of NATO.

Adding to the complexity is that the membership of the two organizations largely overlaps and the money in question comes from a single national source. “There are currently 23 countries in both organizations and I think some of them may feel particularly under pressure,” Missiroli said.

It was pointed out that there may be a lack of trust between the institutions, but at the same time, on a personal level, Stoltenberg particularly likes von der Leyen. The couple collaborates regularly, and their work together is characterized by friendship.

(Cover photo: Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto / Getty Images)