Shake up!

(BRUSSELS2) Barely three months away from the next European summit devoted to Defence, the first for five years, we are hard pressed to identify important lines of force.

A “roadmap” could be released, with different stages, specifies a senior European diplomat. And a commitment to put this subject on the agenda of a European Council on a regular basis - every two years for example. Progress could be made on the European Union's rapid reaction force (battlegroups), adds another. And various projects - already mentioned in the past - such as in-flight tankers - could be brought up to date, giving them a new patina. That's all good... but it's a little skimpy in the face of the stakes.

The Europeans seem, in fact, to be reluctant to take the plunge or even simply announce structuring, industrial or capacity projects for the future. For drones, everyone seems to want to have a separate room, and find their own little national solution, without really consulting at European level. The idea of ​​a European headquarters, or simply of a capacity for military conduct of operations, is itself evoked mezzo vocce, just to avoid upsetting the future. The only structuring project, which continues on its merry way, is EATC, the air transport platform, which should soon expand to two new countries – Spain first then Italy – and also include tankers. On some projects, we even seem to be in decline (communication satellites in particular, even heavy helicopters that have been forgotten due to budgetary restrictions).

It will be necessary to shake the "chips" and find projects which, without being unrealistic, are a little more ambitious. Because to say 7 years after the establishment of battlegroups, this time, I swear to you, we will use them. And we agreed to meet again in two years to check that all of this will be fine... It's a bit short!