Defence Commissioner pushes E5 as launchpad for European Defence Union
EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius is pushing to turn the E5 group into “an Informal Security Council” to kick-start a new European Defence Union designed to bring Ukraine into Europe’s security architecture.
The Commissioner’s plan, outlined on Tuesday during a Martens Centre conference, foresees the European Group of Five – the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Poland – taking the lead on drafting the framework for a new European Defence Union.
The Commissioner’s proposal deliberately sits outside the EU framework with Kubilius arguing that current treaties were not designed for Europe’s territorial defence and cannot easily accommodate close partners such as the United Kingdom, Norway or Ukraine.
An intergovernmental structure, he said, would allow willing countries to move faster without waiting for treaty change or unanimous agreement among all 27 member states. Kubilius envisages a threshold for the project to take off, saying “around 15 countries would be enough to launch the initiative.”
Ukraine is central to the plan. Kubilius called its armed forces “the strongest army in Europe” and said its battlefield experience and innovative defence industry must be integrated into Europe’s defence capabilities now, rather than after what could be years of negotiations over NATO or EU membership.
“Europe needs Ukraine to become much stronger. Not at some time in the future, but now,” he stressed.
He added that Ukraine’s army and defence industry could play a crucial role in filling capability gaps left by the US drawdown on the continent.
Membership would remain open to non-EU partners. Besides Ukraine, the UK, and Norway, Kubilius suggested “maybe even Turkey or Canada” could be future participants.
Asked whether countries such as South Korea could one day join, he did not rule it out but said it was too early to define the geographical limits of the project.
Speaking on how the European Defence Union would interact with NATO, former European Parliament Secretary-General Klaus Welle dismissed suggestions that the initiative would duplicate the alliance.
Welle, who attended the same event, pointed to the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force as proof that regional defence cooperation can reinforce NATO.
A meeting in an E5 format could take place “in the coming days,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday, as Warsaw and Rome push to be included in key Ukraine-related discussions following the recent E3 meeting format in London.
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