EU–NATO cooperation: a case of institutional fatigue?

Abstract: Although EU–NATO institutional relations have been evolving since the Saint-Malo Declaration in 1998, efficient and coherent cooperation is still lacking.

This article goes beyond the narrative of blockage caused purely at the political level in order to illustrate both formal and informal EU–NATO cooperation at both the centre (Brussels) and on the ground (missions).

This article addresses cooperation in terms of the actors involved at three different levels: state actors, international staff, and military personnel. Although, much has been done to advance cooperation between international staffers in Brussels and between those on the ground in common mission areas, the lack of a political agreement – one that moves beyond the limited scope of Berlin Plus – is causing severe fatigue, most notably at the level of international staff. Furthermore, the informal and ad hoc cooperation that has been the underlying facilitator of synergy between the two organisations could start to atrophy if a grand or intermediary bargain is not achieved in the near future.