“Misfires” on the Road to Common European Defense

The architects of the European vision did not have in the back of their minds that the Union might one day be called upon to fight a war. On the contrary, the driving force behind the project was the safeguarding of long-term peace. Almost eight decades later, and as the first large-scale armed conflict on European soil since 1945 rages on, the “27” are compelled to answer the most critical—indeed, for many existential—questions in their history: Is the European Union (EU) capable of standing its ground in the new world that is emerging? Can it become defensively autonomous without the support of the United States? What will happen if Russia’s next target is one of its members?

The Military Schengen and the Undeclared War

Last Wednesday, the European Parliament took a first tangible step toward common defense. It approved the report on “military mobility” within the framework of the EU strategy aptly titled “Readiness 2030.” This constitutes one of the three pillars of the European project for defense autonomy. The other two are the well-known SAFE program and the massive ReArm initiative, amounting to €650 billion. Both concern the rearmament of member states through their own resources as well as borrowing.

“Readiness” refers to the creation of a