The status and location of the military installations of the Member States of the European Union and their potential role for the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)

This Briefing Paper argues that the EU and its Member States need to speed up their efforts to reform, amalgamate and put in place the necessary functional and geographic structures for the protection of European 'Sea Lines of Communication' and to expand the EU's geographical and geostrategic reach. Key to these structures are the overseas military installations of the EU Member States, which are spread out across the world. In an increasingly multipolar world, placing a renewed focus on these military facilities is a pressing European priority.