A clear objective has been identified: to be able to deploy a European military force during times of crisis. In order to achieve this, defense capabilities and an internal defense market must be developed. The existing institutions—the European Union Military Staff, the European Defence Agency, an embryonic military academy—are underused. It is possible to make significant progress in this direction without radical institutional change or modification of existing treaties.

Claude-France Arnould is Special Advisor to the President for European Affairs. From 2009 to 2010, Claude-France Arnould headed the Crisis Management and Planning Directorate at the Council of the European Union, after being director for defence matters at the Council of the European Union since 2001. From January 2011 to January 2015, she was Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency, then, from October 2015 to July 2019, Ambassador of France to the Kingdom of Belgium.

Article published in Politique étrangère, Vol. 86, No. 4, Winter 2021.