Close Menu
    Latest Category
    • Finance
    • Tech
    • EU Law
    • Energy
    • About
    • Contact
    EUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politicsEUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politics
    Login
    • EU News
    • Focus
    • Guides
    • Press
    • Jobs
    • Events
    • Directory
    EUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politicsEUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politics
    Home » MEPs call for common EU defence policy

    MEPs call for common EU defence policy

    npsBy nps26 October 2016Updated:25 June 2024 No Comments3 Mins Read
    — Filed under: Defence EU News European Parliament Headline2
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email
    MEPs call for common EU defence policy

    Eurocopter Tiger Copyright © 2007 David Monniaux

    (BRUSSELS) – The EU should tackle Europe’s deteriorating security by helping its armed forces to work together better, as a first step towards a common defence policy, MEPs on the foreign affairs committee said Monday.

    In two separate resolutions, MEPs urged the EU to establish an EU operational headquarters to plan, command and manage crisis management operations, as well as setting a defence spending target of 2% of GDP and launching Common Defence and Security Policy training operation in Iraq.

    With the security situation in and around Europe worsening significantly in recent years, through terrorism, hybrid threats or cyber and energy insecurity, no country is able to tackle alone, says a resolution on the European Defence Union.

    Foreign affairs MEPs want the EU to respond faster and more robustly to real threats, which they say requires European armed forces to work together better.

    According to a June 2016 Eurobarometer survey, two thirds of EU citizens would like to see greater EU engagement in matters of security and defence.

    The resolution asks the European Council to lead the creation of “common Union defence policy and to provide additional financial resources ensuring its implementation”.

    It also advocates setting up an EU operational headquarters to plan, command and control crisis management operations. MEPs urge EU Member States to aim to spend 2% of GDP on defence and to establish “multinational forces within the Permanent Structured Cooperation and make these forces available to the common security and defence policy”.

    MEPs call for the European defence market to be made fair, accessible and transparent. They also back the proposed EU investment in defence-related research projects “of at least 90 million euro during next three years”, suggesting that this should be followed up by a separate European Defence Research Programme with an annual budget of €500 million.

    The Common Security and Defence policy (CSDP) should be radically overhauled in order to assert the EU’s strategic autonomy and to strengthen its resilience, says a separate resolution, prepared by Ioan Mircea Pascu (S&D, RO).

    The EU “should be able to intervene across the whole spectrum of crisis management, including crisis prevention and crisis resolution”, while “all Council decisions on future missions and operations should prioritise engagements in conflicts directly affecting EU security”, says the text.

    The resolution suggests launching CSDP training operation in Iraq to support member states involved in the coalition against Da’esh. MEPs also urge the Council to set up a start-up fund to provide urgent funding for the initial phases of military operations and to make the EU Battlegroups, a rapid response force created in 2007, into a more readily employable military instrument.

    Finally, MEPs welcome further steps taken to strengthen EU-NATO relations, including stepping up cooperation, in particular to counter hybrid and cyber threats, and to avoid wasteful competition.

    Further information, European Parliament

    Procedure file on the European Defence Union (2016/2052(INI))

    Committee on Foreign Affairs

    Add A Comment
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

    nps
    • Website

    Related Content

    Internet safety children - Photo by Jonathan Borba on Pexels

    EU Commission issues guidelines for protecting children online

    Euro - ECB-Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

    Trump demands more concessions as EU holds off on US tariff countermeasures – Euro currency news daily

    Academy of European Law logo

    Lawyer / Course Director in Data Protection and AI Law, Academy of European Law, ERA

    Subianto - von der Leyen - Photo © European Union 2025

    EU and Indonesia reach political agreement on trade partnership

    EU agenda - Image by Andreas Lischka from Pixabay

    EU Agenda: Week Ahead – 14-20 July 2025

    Euro coins and notes - Photo by Pixabay

    Eurozone Economic Calendar

    LATEST EU NEWS
    Internet safety children - Photo by Jonathan Borba on Pexels

    EU Commission issues guidelines for protecting children online

    14 July 2025
    Euro - ECB-Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

    Trump demands more concessions as EU holds off on US tariff countermeasures – Euro currency news daily

    14 July 2025
    Subianto - von der Leyen - Photo © European Union 2025

    EU and Indonesia reach political agreement on trade partnership

    13 July 2025
    Sustainable finance - Image by Nattanan Kanchanaprat from Pixabay

    Brussels eases corporate sustainability reporting requirements

    11 July 2025
    Tochytskyi - Micallef - Ukraine Recovery Conference - Photo © European Union 2025

    EU offers support for Ukraine culture and heritage

    11 July 2025

    Subscribe to EUbusiness Week

    Get the latest EU news

    CONTACT INFO

    • EUbusiness Ltd 117 High Street, Chesham Buckinghamshire, HP5 1DE United Kingdom
    • +44(0)20 8058 8232
    • service@eubusiness.com

    INFORMATION

    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Info

    Services

    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
    • EU News

    SOCIAL MEDIA

    Facebook
    eubusiness.com © EUbusiness Ltd 2025

    Design and developed by : 

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Sign In or Register

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below.

    Lost password?