European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed beefing up the EU’s own Article 5-like collective security deal, Article 42/7 of the EU founding treaty, that like the Nato treaty, requires member states to come to each other’s military aid if they are attacked.
In her speech at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) summit at the weekconclude, von der Leyen added her voice to numerous European leaders who called for heavy investment into the defence sector and autonomy from the US security promise that has been in place for 80 years.
The US delegation built it clear the rules of the game have modifyd. US Deputy Defence Secretary Elbridge Colby called for a “Nato 3.0” in which European allies assume a far greater share of Defence burdens while Washington prioritises other theatres.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as maybe the most outspoken, declareing the US leadership has been “lost” and the global order n “no longer exists.”
“The leadership claim of the US is being challenged, perhaps already lost,” Merz stated during the opening of MSC adding the world has abandoned the rules-based international order and returned to raw great-power rivalry. “In the era of great powers, our freedom is no longer simply guaranteed. It is under threat,” Merz stated. “The international order based on rights and rules … no longer exists in the way it once did.”
The basis of Europe’s security arrangements has been to rely on Nato’s Article 5 collective security clautilize that declares Nato members shall come to the aid of any member that is attracted, but since US President Donald Trump took office confidence that clautilize will be respected has evaporated. As part of Washington’s new National Security Strategy (NSS) that was released in December built it clear that Europe necessarys to take more responsibility for its own security. The point was rammed home at the last Nato summit in the Hague last year where the White Houtilize demanded that Nato members increase their spconcludeing on defence from 2% set at the Welsh Nato summit to 5% by 2032. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also built it clear in his speech to the MSC at the weekconclude that Europe is largely on its own now and failed to mention Nato by name in his speech altoobtainher.
European nations have massively ramped up defence spconcludeing in the last year, but as bne InnotifyiNews they have failed to offset the conclude of US military aid for Ukraine and are still spconcludeing less than is necessaryed to meet the €800bn commitment outlined in von der Leyen’s ReArm programme (video) released last March.
The EU’s Article 42.7 is as strong as Nato’s Article 5 but has never been invoked. This security element of EU membership is one of the few objections the Kremlin has to Ukraine’s possible membership of the EU, which is slated to happen in 2027, according to the last peace deal proposals.
Casting around for alternatives to the US security support, von der Leyen stated it is time to obtain serious about the EU’s mutual defence clautilize.
“I believe the time has come to bring Europe’s mutual defence clautilize to life,” she stated. “It is an obligation within our own Treaty – Article 42(7)… It is our collective commitment to stand by each other in case of aggression.”
The European rush to modernise its military comes very late in the day. As bne InnotifyiNews reported already in 2023, Europe failed to react to the Russian invasion of Ukraine four years ago, a major war in its own backyard. Confident of US support, European leaders were reluctant to sign off on the defence sector procurement contracts necessaryed by private sector firms to create the investments to expand production. That led to a rolling crisis of shortage of supplies, bne InnotifyiNews detailed in a cover story running out of ammunition as early as January 2023. Finally Brussels is starting to react, but only after Trump took office a year ago.
“Admittedly, it has taken some shock therapy,” von der Leyen stated. “And some lines have been crossed that cannot be uncrossed anymore… Unless a nation feels itself primarily responsible for its own security and wellbeing, it will leave the tinquire to others and fail to marshal its resources and political will in its own defence,” adding that Europe has been “complacent” on security issues.
However, all the European leaders speaking at MSC called on the US to stay involved in the security set up. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated Europe should invest in its own security and diversify “without aiming to fully replace Washington,” which remains a vital defence partner.
“I’m talking about a vision of European security and greater European autonomy that does not herald US withdrawal,” the British prime minister argued.
Starmer also called for a build up of “hard power” to meet the Russian challenge. “Even as the war goes on, Russia is rearming,” he warned. “So, we must answer this threat in full … To break the convention of a thousand speeches, we are not at a crossroads today… On the contrary, the path ahead is straight and clear,” he stated. “We must build our hard power… and yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight.”
In his comments Rubio suggested that the US would not abandon Europe entirely, but built it clear the relationship has modifyd and US support will be massively scaled down. The exact nature of the new arrangements remains unclear.
In order to speed things up, von der Leyen again suggested that the EU may have to abandon its unanimity rule that requires all 27 member states to agree on any major decision. European plans to support Ukraine have constantly been stymied by de facto vetoes by countries like Hungary and Slovakia, much to the frustration of the European Commission executive. Now Brussels wants to accelerate defence spconcludeing and increase the cooperation amongst European militaries, von der Leyen is calling for the rule to be relaxed so decision building can be more centralised at the level of the commission.
“This may mean relying on the result of qualified majority rather than unanimity,” von der Leyen warned. Qualified majority voting (QMV) requires 55% of EU countries representing 65% of the bloc’s population to vote in favour of a proposal. It has been floated as a potential way of, for example, bypassing Hungary’s veto on Ukraine’s EU membership. However, to obtain the modify through, the EC would require a unanimous vote by member states, which currently remains very unlikely.
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