U.S (Washington Insider Magazine) -The United States famously outspends other countries on defense. A huge topic during the 2020 presidential debates, US defense spending is still a hot-button issue in politics. There is no denying that US defense spending is high. In fact, while European defense spending is around $252 billion, US defense spending reaches upwards of $715 billion.
Many believe that the state of European defense is not where it could be, especially when considering the EU’s joint resources. However, that is largely the issue: European defense does not act as one. Rather, EU defense seems to be disjointed. Because of this, Europe has at least somewhat depended upon the US for defense.
This dependence has proved politically precarious. Europe’s reliance on the United States for defense gives the US the power to steer the direction of EU military defense in the future. Indeed, the US has repeatedly told Europe to up their defense spending. However, when Europe attempts to do so, the United States swiftly reacts negatively.
While some believe that the EU’s defense capabilities should be restricted, others believe that a stronger EU military and security presence could be a good thing, adding a valuable contribution to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Despite a complicated history regarding military cooperation between the United States and Europe, cooperation attempts have been made this year.
Earlier this year, Norway, Canada, and the United States received invitations from the European Union to participate in PESCO, or the Permanent Structured Cooperation. PESCO is the EU’s attempt to fund and coordinate projects of defense capability across the European Union. Though the United States has been trying to gain access to PESCO for years, the invitation still came as a surprise.
Despite months of deliberation — as well as an initially positive reaction to US inclusion in PESCO — many negotiations remain unfinished and have hampered possible progress towards better cooperation. Though the relationships between the US and the EU remain positive, compromises seem to be increasingly out of reach.
Of course, perhaps the European Union should reach military cooperation before they try to reach such cooperation with the United States. In fact, Jiri Sedivy — the chief executive of the European Defense Agency — believes that now is the time for European defense cooperation. He believes that Europe needs to end all defense fragmentation and instead design and set capability goals that will eventually lead to a strong defense industry for the EU.
Sedivy believes that there are several impending threats on the European Union as a whole, such as proximity to dangerous regions and failed states, future climate change impact, and migration. He believes that these impending threats should encourage and incentivize the EU to come together and synergize in a way that promotes strong military development.
Although he is currently focused on organizing and supporting the defense cooperation efforts of the European Union, Sedivy sees true transatlantic defense cooperation in the future. Indeed, he sees such future cooperation not as a competition, but rather as a way to secure the entire West.
The message is clear: the European Union must first organize their own defense cooperation before they build a transatlantic defense synergy with the United States. However, if Europe is able to succeed, EU-US defense cooperation could potentially happen in the near future.