The EU should allow for a coalition of the willing on defence

"The creation of the European Defence Union is in the ultimate interest of the European Union. On the way towards a European Defence Union we have to transfer today’s isolated islands of military ad-hoc cooperation into the so-called Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). Member States can do this now, with a qualified majority vote, without changing the EU Treaty. PESCO has the European added-value that we can use EU funds for financing peacetime cooperation of military units and the headquarters”, said Michael Gahler MEP, EPP Group Spokesman on security and defence.

He made this statement welcoming today’s Council decision to establish a military headquarters in Brussels as a first step to PESCO: “We achieved an important milestone in order to plan and conduct military operations from a single source.”

“The Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) will increase the smooth cooperation between EU Institutions, national forces command, and the commander in theatre. We have to be quick in transferring responsibility to the EU headquarters for all military operations in order to increase over all the quality of the Common Security and Defence Policy”, he concluded.