25/11/2019
In many ways, defense firms in Europe should be pleased with the recent uptick in defense spending.
European strategic autonomy
Europe is faced with a degradation of its security environment, which affects all of the neighboring regional theaters and occurs along the entire conflict spectrum (Russian strategic resurgence, instability and civil wars around the Mediterranean Sea, changing patterns of jihadist terrorism, etc.), and with a growing uncertainty regarding the future commitment to European security of two critical allies, the United States and the United Kingdom. In this context, this program provides analytical support to the renewed European interest for defense, and to the attainment of the goal of strategic autonomy, as identified in the EU’s Global Strategy.
Its aims are:
- to provide substance to the concept of “European strategic autonomy” while contributing to the emergence of a European strategic thought on the use of force in the 21st century;
- to add to the ongoing debate on the degree of ambition for European countries in terms of strategic autonomy;
- to assess the capacity, in Europe, to generate military power, now and up to 2030-2040;
- to come up with a comprehensive overview of the existing capacities as well as the lacking areas, as of today and until 2030-2040 (trends, areas and degrees of dependence, etc.);
- to provide recommendations on key lines of effort, in terms of defense investment, operational and industrial cooperation as well as capability development.
Corentin BRUSTLEIN
Research Fellow, Director of Ifri's Security Studies Center
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Guillaume LASCONJARIAS
Associate Research Fellow, Security Studies Center
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Alice PANNIER
Chercheuse associée au Centre des études de sécurité de l'Ifri
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Vivien PERTUSOT
Associate Research Fellow
31/10/2019
As the world stage is marked by renewed great power competition, Europe lacks proper means to assert and defend its own independent political view. Despite this backdrop, the authors of this report contend that the current stalemate can be overcome with a collective and inclusive approach.
14/10/2019
Over the past five years, several political and security developments have made it increasingly necessary to look at European Union (EU) / North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) relations through a different lens.
03/10/2019
Restrictive measures are a major instrument of the European Union (EU)’s external action, which has emerged as one of the world’s leading sanctions emitters. The EU has thus leveraged the size of its market and its economic and financial clout (trade relations, aid policy and bilateral...
02/10/2019
Russia’s Syrian campaign has demonstrated the returning challenge the West faces in the underwater domain.
09/09/2019
The recent calls for the militarization of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) require first a comprehensive democratization of European foreign and security policy.
21/06/2019
It is a classic exercise to imagine what today’s world would be like if all satellites were shut down. The exact consequences of such a scenario, which is not unlikely given the inherent vulnerability of space systems to natural, accidental and deliberate interferences, are however difficult...
22/01/2019
On 22 January 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel sign the Treaty of Aachen on “Franco-German Cooperation and Integration.” The document is set to complement the original Elysée Treaty from 1963, signed by President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad...
16/11/2018
For decades, Europe has been trying to chart a path away from the military competition and strategic rivalries that brought it to ruins so many times in history.
09/11/2018
The instruments of cooperative security created during and since the Cold War to foster mutual confidence and reduce the risks of war, inadvertent escalation, and arms races, in and around Europe, have come under increasing strain.
23
Jan
2018
from 18:00 to 19:30
- Seminars and Round-table Conferences
France, Germany, and the Quest for European Strategic Autonomy. Franco-German Defence Cooperation in a New Era
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...
05
Oct
2017
from Thursday 5 October 2017 14:30 to Friday 6 October 2017 13:00
- Seminars and Round-table Conferences
QUAD 2017 Annual Meeting
Since 1983, the QUAD gathers every year, the SWP, RAND Corporation, Chatham House and Ifri.
05
Sep
2017
from 18:00 to 19:30
- Seminars and Round-table Conferences
Where is the OSCE headed? Achievements and dividing lines since 2014
The Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) used to carry the promise of a paneuropean security order. It is the only Euroatlantic security organization in which the “West” and Russia can cooperate on an equal footing.
28
Apr
2015
from 10:30 to 14:30
NATO's Framework Nations Concept: The Panacea?
This expert seminar gathered officials from national ministries of defense, national delegations to NATO, officials from NATO, the EDA, and the EEAS, as well as experts. The objective was to discuss the ambitions of the framework nations concept for framework nations as well as for partner...
14
Apr
2015
from 17:30 to 19:00
Quel avenir pour la défense européenne ?
Rencontre-débat animée par Marc Hecker, rédacteur en chef de la revue Politique étrangère.
...
10
Oct
2014
from 11:00 to 16:00
- Seminars and Round-table Conferences
Franco-British cooperation in the broader picture: Going beyond the bilateral dimension?
This expert seminar aims to address Franco-British defence cooperation in the broader context. It is organised by the Institut français des relations internationales and the Centre for European Reform.
02
Jul
2014
from 14:00 to 17:00
- Seminars and Round-table Conferences
European Defence: Planning for What?
This expert seminar focused on the planning processes within the European Defence Agency and NATO. It gathered officials from NATO, the EDA, the EEAS, national delegations to the EU and NATO, as well as experts.
05/03/2019
Germany's unilateral decision to halt all shipments of military equipment to Saudi Arabia has stopped 10's of billions of dollars worth of orders of joint European arms exports, bringing the question of deep arms export cooperation among European partners into high relief.
03/06/2018
Nicolas Sarkozy used to promote himself as a transatlanticist or anglophile French president. Emmanuel Macron seems to have taken this approach a step further. Macron appears to have taken upon France and himself the responsibility of not allowing Britain and more importantly, the United...
09/12/2015
The offer of active military support to France in Syria or in the Sahel by several European member states is likely to overshadow the absence of meaningful commitment from others. On balance, the picture will not be too disheartening for supporters of the EU: its foreign and security policy...
01/06/2015
L'Allemagne a annoncé qu'elle allait publier en 2016 un nouveau Livre blanc sur la défense. Cet exercice pourrait illustrer que les signaux positifs, mais dispersés, lancés par l'Allemagne depuis un peu plus d'un an auguraient d'un réel changement de posture stratégique, gage d'une reprise...
23/03/2015
Many national perspectives published in this series share a similar analysis of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP): it is underperforming and needs to be adapted. However, the...