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Abstract

When an idea like the defence community re-emerges regularly over the course of 70 years but is never realised, what does this tell us? The message is, first, that the idea is backed by a strong rationale that does not allow us simply to shelve it and move on; but also, that the preconditions for its implementation have been absent.

This document is the fruit of a collective effort, bringing together insights from prominent European security and defence experts. It presents comprehensive strategies aimed at strengthening the EU's security and defence policy in complementarity with NATO. Consisting of 81 concrete proposals, the publication serves as a comprehensive guide to European defence, covering several critical dimensions such as the defence industry, arms production, military mobility, defence innovation, strategic capability gaps, EU military operations, the institutional framework and the European Civil Protection Service. It also looks at the exploration of a European military model and the development of European nuclear deterrence.

Footnotes

Author biographies

Michael Benhamou is the Executive Director of OPEWI - Europe’s War Institute and a research associate at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies. Formerly, he was a political advisor deployed with NATO and EU field operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Libya.

Steven Blockmans is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies, a Senior Fellow at the International Centre for Defence and Security (Tallinn), Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Bruges and Natolin), and Editor-in-Chief of the European Foreign Affairs Review.

Mihai Chihaia is a Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre where he covers EU security and defence policies. Previously, Mihai was part of the Security and Defence Programme of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Ionela Maria Ciolan is a Research Officer at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, focusing on European Foreign Policy, Security and Defence. In addition, Ionela is a 2023-2024 Re.Think CEE Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Daniel Fiott is Professor at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where he also heads the Defence and Statecraft Programme. Daniel is also a Non-Resident Fellow at the Madrid-based Real Instituto Elcano, where he analyses defence industrial issues.

Alessandro Marrone is Head of Defence Programme at the Istituto Affari Internazionali (Rome). Since 2018 he is also Professor at the Istituto Superiore di Stato Maggiore Interforze of the Italian Ministry of Defence. Since 2016 he is member of the Scientific Board of the Armament Industry European Research Group.

Christian Mölling is the Research Director of the German Council on Foreign Relations and heads the Security and Defence Programme. For more than two decades, he has been researching and publishing on geopolitics, security and strategy with a special focus on defence, armament, industries and technology.

Paola Tessari is a Senior Researcher in the Security Programme at Istituto Affari Internazionali (Rome). Since March 2022, she has also been involved in IAI’s activities in the framework of the EU Non-proliferation and Disarmament Consortium.

Adérito Vicente is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Odesa Center for Nonproliferation and an External Researcher at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies.

Klaus Welle is the Chair of the Martens Centre’s Academic Council and former Secretary-General of the European Parliament (2009-22). He is also a Guest Professor in practice at the London School of Economics, a Visiting Professor at KU Leuven and a Leader in Residence at the Moynihan Center of the Colin Powell School for global leadership in New York.

The 7Ds for Sustainability – Defence in Depth

Abstract

Footnotes

Author biographies