IRMO Brief 02/2018, "PeSCo – Anything There for European Defence?"

Introduction

‍The European strategic landscape has changed dramatically over the course of the last decade. The post-Cold War mantra about the obsolescence of conventional threats in the wider European space proved to be short-sighted with developments at its eastern flanks, while security dysfunctions in the MENA region and their immanent consequences for the safety of European citizens have loaded a heavy burden on compromise-building and decision-making in the field of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) of the EU.

"... the EU needs to develop a structural way for member states to do jointly what they were not capable of doing at the national level."

Furthermore, the approach of the new US administration to European security and the strategic consequences of Brexit have changed the wider framework in which security of 'the Old Continent' is to be determined, hence
stimulating European leaders to rethink European security in a strive for strategic autonomy of their own.

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