European Defence Integration In Focus

European security has entered a new era of urgency. Russia’s war against Ukraine shattered post-Cold War assumptions and spurred a historic increase in defence efforts across the EU. Member states are drastically hiking budgets and reversing long-standing policies – Germany, for example, reached 2% of GDP on defence in 2024, making it Europe’s largest spender. According to NATO and EU data, EU members’ combined defence expenditure rose to about €326 billion in 2024 (≈1.9% of GDP) – a 79% real increase since 2014 .

This “Zeitenwende” has extended beyond budgets: Europe has sent unprecedented military aid to Ukraine and is urgently replenishing depleted stockpiles. The central question now is whether Europe can translate this spending surge into long-term capability gains and reduce its reliance on external protectors. Calls for EU strategic autonomy have intensified amid this threat environment. Brussels views bolstering European defence industrial capacity as essential to ensure Europe can “defend itself without the United States as the ultimate backstop” if needed.

In her second term, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has often spoken of building a “defence union” , and in 2024 she even proposed creating the EU’s first dedicated Defence Commissioner. The rationale is that greater European self-reliance complements NATO by strengthening the European pillar: NATO and EU leaders have explicitly converged on defence priorities , signing a third Joint Declaration in 2023 to deepen cooperation. The United States, which once fretted about EU defence initiatives duplicating NATO, has shifted to a more supportive stance. In fact, Washington and Brussels launched a U.S.-EU Security and Defense Dialogue in 2022 , and the U.S. in 2023 signed an administrative arrangement with the European Defence Agency to facilitate cooperation.

Notably, American allies USA, Canada and Norway have even joined a flagship EU defence project (PESCO’s Military Mobility) aimed at easing troop movements across Europe.