Introduction
EU defence has overarching EU frameworks and funding support, but defence remains a national competence of the member states who make their own defence decisions. An EU Army does not exist.
The Lisbon Treaty, which came into force in 2009, strengthens the solidarity between EU countries in dealing with external threats. It introduces a mutual defence clause (in Article 42(7) of the Treaty on European Union). This provides that if an EU country is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other EU countries have an obligation to aid and assist it by all the means in their power.
To promote EU defence cooperation and reach greater strategic convergence, the 2016 Global Strategy called for the gradual synchronisation of national defence planning cycles and capability development.
This section looks at the main building blocks of the EU’s defence framework.
Member state decisions
Not all defence budgets are equal. Unlike the US, China or Russia, EU member states do not spend their defence budget as a centralised and unified bloc. Instead, 27 national governments decide and allocate their defence budgets, which involves greater fragmentation, duplication of effort, and reduced efficiency.
As a result, the member states operate a wider variety of weapon systems across key platforms compared to the US. This leads to interoperability issues and challenges in joint operations, logistics, maintenance and training. In addition, the fragmentation limits possibilities of economies of scale and weakens collective bargaining power with suppliers, ultimately driving up unit costs.
For example, the EU has more main battle tanks, artillery systems, and infantry fighting vehicles than the US. However, these weapon systems are spread across different models. In contrast, the US relies on fewer platforms, which facilitates logistics, training, and operational coordination.
The fragmentation issue has been recognised for years. It’s driven by several factors including use of Soviet-era systems, unaligned planning cycles and industrial constraints. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has stimulated change.
Source:
European Defence Agency, Defence Data 2024-2025
Common Security and Defence Policy
The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is a major element of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The CSDP provides the framework for military operations and civilian missions conducted in support of the overarching CFSP.
The CSDP operates under Articles 42–46 of the Treaty on European Union. These articles outline rules for decision‑making, the scope of the EU’s defence cooperation, relations with NATO and Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). The CSDP maintains clear “red lines”, such as the non-duplication of NATO’s operational planning and command structures. It also evolves in response to global security challenges, such as those from the war in Ukraine.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (currently Kaja Kallas) directs CSDP, supported by agencies like the European Defence Agency (EDA) and the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC), which is the EU’s permanent military HQ.
Before Brexit, the UK, along with France, had been a prime mover in the development of the CSDP. However, for some time before the referendum, the UK had started to walk away from the CSDP and had cut back its contribution to EU deployments.
Synchronised Armed Forces Europe (SAFE), founded in 2009, is a concept for ever closer synchronisation of the European forces under the CSDP. It is a structured plan for deeper standardisation, interoperability, and shared military development. Participation in SAFE is voluntary.
This is distinct from Security Action for Europe, which also has the acronym ‘SAFE’. See below for more details.
Strategic Compass
The EU’s Strategic Compass, adopted in March 2022, responds to a rapidly deteriorating global security environment. The Compass is a comprehensive action plan to strengthen the EU’s security and defence posture by 2030. It provides a shared threat assessment, a common strategic vision, and a detailed implementation roadmap for enhancing the EU’s ability to act, protect itself, invest in defence, and build global partnerships.
Progress since 2022 includes:
- rapid operationalisation of the EU Rapid Deployment Capacity (RDC), force of up to 5,000 troops operational by 2025;
- extensive military support and training for Ukraine, including tens of thousands of trained soldiers and multi‑billion‑euro assistance;
- new defence‑readiness initiatives such as Readiness 2030, an EU-wide plan to mobilise up to €800 billion for defence over the next several years, including the SAFE instrument, plus steps toward a strengthened EU defence industry.
Permanent Structured Cooperation
Article 42 also provides for permanent structured cooperation between the armed forces of a subset of member states. The treaty set out the means for this in Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). Through inter-governmental cooperation, PESCO allows member states to jointly develop military capabilities, invest in shared projects and enhance their armed forces.
In late 2017, the European Council committed to deeper defence cooperation under PESCO involving 25 member states (excluding Malta, Denmark and the UK). Decision-making remains with individual member states but the programme provides operational steps towards a longer-term Defence Union. On defence matters, unanimity is required so, for example, each member state has the ability to veto an EU Army.
European Defence Fund
The European Defence Fund (EDF) is a European Commission instrument to support collaborative defence research and development. The EDF:
- supports EU companies to develop competitive and collaborative defence projects that will deliver innovative and interoperable defence technologies and equipment.
- offers support and advice to participants throughout the entire cycle of research and development.
- promotes defence cooperation among companies, research actors and between the Member States to foster innovation and develop state-of-the-art defence technology.
The Fund supports defence projects throughout the entire cycle of research and development, focusing on projects that have the potential to be game-changers for the armed forces of member states. The Fund fosters innovation and incentivises the cross-border participation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Projects are defined based on defence capability priorities agreed by member states within the framework of CSDP and particularly in the context of the Capability Development Plan.
Under the EU’s Multi-annual Financial Framework for 2021-2027, the EDF has a budget of €7.3 billion:
- €2.7 billion for collaborative defence research
- €5.3 billion for collaborative capability development projects.
(It is not clear to me why the EU’s figures do not add up to €7.3 billion.)
Security Action for Europe
The Council of the European Union adopted Security Action for Europe (SAFE) in May 2025. SAFE is the EU’s new financial instrument that provides financial support to member states to speed up defence readiness. It allows urgent and major investments in support of the European defence industry, with a focus on closing critical capability gaps.
SAFE will provide up to €150 billion in long-maturity loans to member states requesting financial assistance for investments in defence capabilities. These loans, whose terms benefit from the EU’s strong credit rating, will finance urgent and large-scale procurement efforts.
Projects will be based on common procurement, involving at least one member state benefitting from SAFE and another member state, as well as Ukraine and EEA-EFTA countries. Temporarily, SAFE will also support procurements by individual member states to ensure timely delivery of critical assets.