France, Germany, and the Quest for European Strategic Autonomy. Franco-German Defence Cooperation in a New Era
Practical information
Themes and regions
Related centers and programs
In the light of a more demanding security environment, but also a rare momentum for further European integration, Berlin and Paris are challenged to take their security and defence cooperation to the next level, bilaterally as well as in the EU. Progress in Franco-German security and defence cooperation is a key step towards strategic autonomy with its three dimensions: political, operational and industrial autonomy.
With seven concrete recommendations, the paper aims to contribute to establishing strategic autonomy, starting at the bilateral level to provide leadership for an ambitious European project.
The recommendations in this report are the result of a joint project by the Institut français de relations internationales (Ifri) and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). Directed by the two authors, it gathered a distinguished group of French and German security and defence policy experts for three workshops in Berlin and Paris. This report and its recommendations are based upon the group’s discussions. The list of participants can be found at the end of this report. The full text is available here (Link).
IFRI and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) are organising an expert exchange on the report published in December 2017 at the Representation of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate to the EU with the following speakers:
Welcome | Representative of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate to the EU
Speakers
Barbara Kunz, Research Fellow, Ifri, Paris
Ronja Kempin, Senior Fellow, SWP, Berlin
Comments
Camille Grand, Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment NATO, Brussels
Sven Biscop, Director, Egmont, Brussels
Please note that this event is by invitation only.
Our partners
Speakers
Find out more
France, Germany, and the Quest for European Strategic Autonomy: Franco-German Defence Cooperation in A New Era
How can France and Germany contribute to reaching the goal of European strategic autonomy? This key question has been guiding the work with the present report. In the light of a more demanding security environment, but also a rare momentum for further European integration, Berlin and Paris have to take their security and defense cooperation to the next level, bilaterally as well as in the EU.
Related Subjects
Other events
The Future of Space Cooperation: Challenges and Opportunities in the Trump II Era
The policy orientations of the Trump II administration profoundly challenge the foundations of international cooperation in space science and exploration. This shift reflects a broader trend of strategic disengagement and weakening of multilateral mechanisms in the space domain.
Strategic Autonomy and Asia amid Rising Geoeconomic Competition
Amid growing strategic and geopolitical uncertainty, Europe is grappling with the notion of its strategic autonomy. For Europe’s partners in Asia, the concept is also becoming increasingly salient as the world enters an era of structural transformation.
France-Germany, The Engine Under Pressure
Faced with a profoundly disrupted strategic and economic environment, Franco-German cooperation is more than ever the central pillar of Europe's future. The war in Ukraine, energy and technological dependence, and uncertainty about the strength of the transatlantic ties require urgent deepening of European sovereignty, both in terms of defence and economic and industrial competitiveness.