A month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, EU leaders are meeting in Brussels tomorrow to discuss Member States’ continued political, material, humanitarian and financial support to Ukraine. This meeting should maintain the momentum of the previous announcements recently made in Versailles to increase defence spending and tighten cooperation between EU countries and Ukraine. 

This war on the doorstep of the European Union is bringing into sharp focus the bloc’s need for closer cooperation in security and defence. In an unprecedented move, the European Union activated the European Peace Facility (EPF) to provide €500 million in military aid to Ukraine. The Council of the European Union also agreed on four packages of economic sanctions as well as a ban on any aircraft operated by Russian air carriers. 

This renewed commitment to defence cooperation is also visible in the recently adopted Strategic Compass. This initiative is a plan of action to strengthen the bloc’s security and defence policies and it provides a common threat analysis that will be regularly updated. The Compass is expected to be endorsed this week during the European Council meeting after having been considerably beefed up following Ukraine’s invasion. It notably includes the plan of creating a 5,000-strong “EU Rapid Deployment Capability” by 2025; the possibility to form mini-coalitions of the willing but also the need to strengthen the NATO alliance, as the US “remains the EU’s staunchest and most important strategic partner”. 

Key Texts

European Council: The Versailles Declaration 

Council of the European Union: The Strategic Compass

European Parliament: Russian Aggression Against Ukraine Resolution 

European Movement International: Policy Recommendations on the War in Ukraine

Upcoming Dates

24 March 2022: Extraordinary NATO Summit

24 – 25 March 2022: European Council

11 April 2022: Foreign Affairs Council

European Movement International Position

As stated in our proposals on the war in Ukraine, the European Union should continue its coordinated actions to provide humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine, along with ensuring stronger protection and support for conflict-affected residents in Ukraine and granting asylum to all refugees arriving in Europe from Ukraine.

The EU also has to step up its military support to Ukraine and the provision of defensive weapons, while continuing to increase defence investments through already existing initiatives such as the European Peace Facility (EPF) and the European Defence Fund (EDF). The European Union should also seize this moment of unity and common solidarity to develop a fully-fledged European Defence Union (EDU) through the harmonisation of European armed forces under full control of national and EU parliaments, as we  highlight in our policy position on the Future of European defence. This should happen in full agreement with NATO and while pursuing an active dialogue with prospective EU members, as they also belong to the European security community.

Moreover, EMI supports a shift from unanimity to qualified majority voting (QMV) in the Council for policy areas of foreign and security policy to allow the EU to shoulder international responsibilities more effectively. 

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