Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos n.º 13 - Año: 2019 - Págs.: 243 a 274 254 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 13 / 2019 In its meeting on 22 and 23 June 201725, the European Council asked the MS to make an effort to establish the Fund, and it urged them to reach an agreement re-garding the proposal of a European Program for Industrial Development in Defense26. Furthermore, the Council highlighted the need to set up an “integrating and am-bitious” PESCO before the end of the year. The Council met again on 19 October, stressing the need for the PESCO, the Fund and the Coordinated Annual Revision for Defense (CARD)27 to mutually strengthen one another (European Defense Agen-cy, 2018a). The second milestone was finally reached at the European Council on 14 Decem-ber28, with the establishment of a PESCO by 25 MS (except for the United Kingdom, Malta and Denmark). Furthermore, it was requested that work on the Fund should continue, and that the Program be adopted in 2018 so as to be able to finance the first projects in 2019. Finally, definition was also requested of a specific instrument encom-passing all needs for development of capabilities, beginning in 2020. Defense cooperation at a sub-regional level: the alternative way When the time came to select from specific P&S or SD projects oriented towards closing gaps in capabilities, and while the implementation of a PESCO still in its in-itial phase was delayed, some MS decided to choose an alternative way and establish clusters or bilateral frameworks of defense cooperation (Mölling, 2015, 14). Defense cooperation among MS was not something new, although its objectives were. This mini-lateral way is a response to the need to preserve or create capabilities, given the stagnation of the multi-lateral way, mainly due to the difficulty in reaching a consen-sus on the divergent interests of the participants. These are initiatives of variable geometry involving between two and five States, normally neighbors of a similar size and with a common vision of defense; institu-tionalized at different levels; more or less flexible, and oriented towards operational problems and those of capabilities. (Pannier, 2015, 74). A common aspect of these initiatives is the concurrence of interests (threats, objectives and needs), the existence of a high degree of mutual trust and of a previous history of cooperation (Table I) 25 Declaration by the European Council, in Brussels on 23 June 2017. 26 Proposal for A European Program with the aim of giving support to competitiveness and the capability of innovation of the defense industry in the Union, presented by the Commission in Brussels on 7 June 2017. COM (2017) 294 final. 27 The Coordinated Annual Revision for Defense (CARD), managed by the EDA, aims to identify the shortage in national defense and to facilitate coherence in expenditure, on the basis of transparency, political visibility and the commitment of the Member States. Its full implementation is expected for the autumn of 2019. 28 Declaration by the European Council, in Brussels on 14 December 2017
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