How Permanent Structured Cooperation Impacts on the European Defence Community

Abstract

It is clear from the conclusions of the European Council on 19 and 20 December 2013, that the issue of defense has regained prominence within the European integration process. The EU is facing a new strategic environment where cooperation is fundamental in this process and where the PEC mechanism has several important elements to provide. The objective of this article is on one hand, to analyze why and how the PEC is presented as a dynamic element for the CSDP itself, and on the other hand, to show from a constructivist point of view, how the PEC can help in the creation of a “European security community". All this will facilitate a better understanding on how the CSDP can be presented, from a political point of view, as a tool to improve the process of European integration, more than as an instrument to enhance national military capabilities of the EU Member States.