The European Union Security and Defence against Emerging Threats

On 16 November 2023, INCIPE held the seminar entitled The European Union Security and Defence against Emerging Threats, in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence. The opening was led by Manuel Alabart, Ambassador of Spain, and Secretary General of INCIPE, and Col. José Luis Calvo, Director of the Security and Defence Coordination and Studies Division, Ministry of Defence. The closing speech was delivered by Javier Rupérez, Ambassador of Spain and President of Ruperez International.

In this session, we had the opportunity to organise two round tables. The first, entitled The Defence Industry and the Strategic Compass: Implications for Spain, was moderated by Col. José Luis Calvo, with the participation of Col. Alfonso Barea Mestanza, Head of the Multilateral Cooperation Area, SDG of International Relations, Ministry of Defence; Ricardo Martí-Fluxá, President of TEDAE and Secretary of State for Security (1996-2000); and Col. Carlos Sánchez-Ledesma, Head of the Force Capabilities Division, European Union Military Staff, Brussels. The second round table, The Strategy for a Security Union, was moderated by Vicente Garrido, Director General of INCIPE, with the participation of CN Francisco Ruiz González, Head of the European Union Area, Directorate General of Defence Policy, Ministry of Defence; Félix Arteaga, Senior Researcher in the area of Security and Defence at the Real Instituto Elcano; and Diego López Garrido, Executive Vice-President of the Fundación Alternativas, Emeritus Professor of Constitutional Law, and Secretary of State for the European Union (2008-2011).

José Luis Calvo began his speech by framing the European Union as a peace project, designed to avoid repeating the horrors of the First and Second World Wars. But over time, he explained, the Union has come to realise that, if it wants to go beyond a common market, it must have a security and defence dimension, which is reflected in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), and the European External Action Service (EEAS) has also been created. But the war in Ukraine has made us realise the real need for further progress in this area, says the colonel.

He goes on to stress the importance of keeping the two legs of any security system in balance, which are the hard leg (military capabilities) and the soft leg (negotiation); since, in his opinion, in the case of the Ukrainian War, deterrence failed, and in the case of Africa, more specifically in the Sahel, dialogue failed. To continue advancing in this area, we have the Strategic Compass, approved in March 2022, but we must also enter, according to the colonel, into a period of reflection to determine where we have failed, and a period of capability development.

The Defence Industry and the Strategic Compass: Implications for Spain

During the first round table, The Defence Industry and the Strategic Compass: Implications for Spain, Col. Alfonso Barea Mestanza began his speech by stressing that in recent years the European Union has had to face numerous challenges, which have boosted the Europe of defence and the defence industry. This has unleashed a lot of initiatives and tools aimed in the same direction: the clear desire to have the military capabilities to act effectively in the face of the challenges and threats of the 21st century, and to be able to act autonomously if necessary.

The Versailles Declaration, signed in March 2022, clearly assumes a political commitment to greater responsibility for European security, and a commitment to invest decisively in defence capabilities and innovative technologies. This declaration also established that the Strategic Compass would provide guidelines for action to make the Union a stronger and more capable guarantor of security.

This Strategic Compass excels in the following areas: it provides a common assessment of the strategic environment; it brings greater coherence and unity of action; it sets out new ways and means to enhance collective capacity, encouraging investment and innovation; and finally, it specifies clear targets to measure progress. The Strategic Compass also establishes four main pillars: act, protect, invest and associate.

The Colonel concluded by stressing that we are at a peak moment in terms of the management and execution of armament programmes, and that, due to the geopolitical situation in which we find ourselves, European initiatives and activities have multiplied exponentially, which is why, today more than ever, it is necessary to have an innovative, competitive and resilient industrial and technological base.

In his address, Col. Carlos Sánchez-Ledesma provides the European Union Military Staff‘s view of how military capabilities are evolving within the European Union, and begins by explaining the role of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) in this area.

The EUMC is the highest military body within the Council of the European Union and is made up of the Chiefs of Defence of the 27 Member States. In the area of capability development, the Colonel highlights a specific initiative: the Capability Development Plan, which describes the shortcomings of the Union in carrying out the missions included in its level of ambition, mainly focused on crisis management missions.

It concludes by stating that, since the invasion of Ukraine, all member states have considerably increased their defence budgets and their willingness to cooperate to promote the defence industry. Moreover, the European Commission has become an active promoter of this, entering forcefully into the field of capabilities, through funding for procurement cooperation, to strengthen the defence industry and, ultimately, to achieve the longed-for European strategic autonomy.

Finally, Ricardo Martí-Fluxá explained that, within NATO, Spain already plays a very important political and military role, being the seventh largest financial contributor; and within the European Union, it is the largest contributor to missions and operations abroad, providing 36% of the personnel deployed in military operations. He also emphasises that our defence companies are becoming increasingly technological and more interconnected with the companies around them.

He went on to talk about the Strategic Compass, stressing that it is a historic document, since, for the first time, the twenty-seven Member States are putting forward a common analysis of the global situation we are facing. In this new context, says Martí-Fluxá, Europe needs a strong defence, which requires coordinated operational capabilities and an innovative competitive industry.

Therefore, he explains, the current challenges affect three levels: the political level, centred on the necessary strategic autonomy; the military level, in which the rationalisation of the demand for systems is one of the pending challenges; and the industrial level, in which some internal contradictions that affect the production capacity of our industry must be resolved.

Focusing on the situation at the national level, Martí-Fluxá points out that our industry must position itself according to our capabilities and our interests, and to do so, we must stop to think about its future for the next decade, and carry out the necessary restructuring of the sector, managing to contribute to reinforcing Spain’s role in a Europe that needs to be strengthened.

The Strategy for a Security Union

In the second round table, The Strategy for a Security Union, Diego López Garrido begins by explaining that there are two factors that in his opinion hinder a European Defence Union: national interests, and the fact that the Union was not created as a ‘hard power’, but fundamentally as an economic organisation.

He went on to explain that, following the invasion of Ukraine, European defence policy has turned around, making it the continent that has increased its defence spending the most: by 13%. He explained that, in order to build a Europe of defence, it is necessary to initiate some projects that do not currently exist, which would consist of: greater integration of armies; a European Headquarters; European military capabilities in all areas (air, land, sea and communications); a sufficient defence industry and market; an organic projection; and, finally, achieving the desired strategic autonomy.

Félix Arteaga continued this second round table by explaining the European Union’s public policy, which should focus not only on external security, but also on internal security, in areas such as immigration, the fight against terrorism, cybersecurity and economic security.

Arteaga argues that there are ‘different securities’ and different actors, which has led the EU to adopt a comprehensive approach, whereby all dimensions and actors are addressed in a crisis. This means moving from coordination to management based on an integrated approach. He went on to explain what he considered to be the missing factor, both at European and national level, in the field of security, and that is the capacity to supervise and impose binding actions, since, he explained, except for the major powers, it is very difficult to impose and coordinate the intermediate actors.

Lastly, CN Francisco Ruiz González took part in this second round table, focusing on the European Union’s common security and defence policy. He explained that Spain and Italy are currently the main contributors to EU operations and missions, while France and Germany have dramatically reduced their contributions, neither of them reaching 5%.

Regarding the relationship between the European Union and NATO, Ruiz González stressed that there should not necessarily be opposition, but rather coherence of initiatives and complementarity of efforts, without this implying a clear division of labour, since a stronger NATO contributes to a stronger European Union, and vice versa. Francisco Ruiz went on to highlight the achievements of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, such as the improvement of the rapid reaction capability, one of the main objectives of the Strategic Compass; the improvement of the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC); progress in common expenses; and the development of the collaborative relationship with Latin America.

Final considerations

Javier Rupérez closed the seminar, and developed his intervention around the premise of whether we are in fear or in hope; resolving, in his opinion, that we are in hope, and, from this point of view, he lists some relevant questions.

Rupérez considers that we must ask ourselves whether the European Union has a defence capability of its own, and believes that a coordinated understanding between Europe and the United States is absolutely crucial. He went on to explain that the Western world has gained consistency over the last eighty years; but at the same time, a series of new and highly relevant situations must be considered: the actions of Russia, the future of China, Islamic terrorism, and the need for collaboration in intelligence systems and defence systems.

Despite all this, he believes that we are anchored in hope. Democracy, economic development and the social market economy are here to stay. We do not live in a perfect world, he concludes, there is much room for improvement, but we must continue to reaffirm the convictions of all those who have allowed people to be freer, more prosperous, and with more respect for their dignity.