CSDP and the ‘Ghent Framework’: The Indirect Approach to Permanent Structured Cooperation?

The move, with the Lisbon Treaty, from a European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) to a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) must mean more than a change of name. This article pleads for a creative use of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the new mechanism in the area of defence offered by the Lisbon Treaty. Building on the continued will of European Union (EU) Member States to pursue the transformation of their armed forces towards expeditionary operations, notably by exploiting opportunities for further pooling and sharing of capabilities, we propose a Permanent Capability Conference as a high-level political platform to generate effective military convergence.

Systematic alignment of national defence planning through such a permanent and structured process at the strategic level will enable each Member State to focus its defence effort on the right capabilities, to do away with redundant capabilities, to make maximal use of pooling and specialization, and to contribute to multinational projects to address Europe's strategic capability shortfalls. In times of austerity, there is no alternative to European cooperation if Europe wants to remain militarily relevant.