Can the EU have an army?

EU Untangled

News, Politics

5 • 3 Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The European Union is a powerhouse in many ways - a shared market, a common currency, and a united front on everything from climate policy to consumer protection. But when it comes to defence, things get murky. Despite its origins as a peace project after two world wars, the EU lacks a unified defence policy or an army of its own. Why is that? And could or should that ever change? In this episode of EU Untangled, Ionela Ciolan, research officer at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, outlines the current security threats to the EU and what should be done to address them. She also highlights the challenges of the European defence industry and answers whether the EU should have its own army.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The Russian aggression against Ukraine marks for many a turning point in Europe.
0:06.2	Suddenly, Europeans see a full-fledged war in their vicinity, and many ask,
0:12.7	Can Europe defend itself?
0:15.3	A question that hasn't been asked for a long time, although in hindsight that question
0:20.0	should have been maybe asked earlier.
0:22.5	As defense is back on Europe's agenda, it's time for EU untangled, to unscrew some
0:28.7	tanks, unpack some policies to understand a bit better where the EU is standing when it
0:34.5	comes to defense.
0:51.5	Thank you. is standing when it comes to defense. Welcome to EU Untangled.
0:59.4	My name is Alex Roth and together with my co-host, Victor Aguilar,
1:06.2	who will join our conversation in a moment. We try to explain the complexities of the EU, topic by topic.
1:10.9	For many years, defense has not been a very hot topic in Brussels.
1:18.0	Many did not believe in the possibility of a large war on the European continent and therefore the need to invest in the military.
1:20.3	Moreover, defense and security policies lie predominantly with the member states and not
1:25.5	with the European Union.
1:27.2	After all, being able to defend its own border appears to be the ultimate reason of existence
1:32.6	for any sovereign nation state.
1:35.1	However, things are more complicated, as always.
1:38.4	Because if you think about it, defense would be the most plausible thing to organize on the EU level. When it comes to defending
1:46.0	the EU, why would 27 individual armies, with its separate command structures and equipment,
1:52.3	be better than one European army? Obviously, others have thought so as well, and there exist
1:57.5	already numerous defense structures within and next to the EU, overlapping and conflicting.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from EU Untangled, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of EU Untangled and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.