Willing and able? EU defence in 2020

Demand for military forces is growing. And the Europeans increasingly turn to the EU when in need of troops for peacekeeping or for delivering humanitarian aid. But will the EU be able to keep up with the demand? Daniel Keohane and Tomas Valasek argue that it is possible, but only if the EU governments reform and pool their militaries, and if the EU and NATO co-ordinate their work more effectively. They also warn the Europeans to stop assuming that the EU will never fight a shooting war, and call on the EU to start a debate on when to use hard military force.

Daniel Keohane was a senior research fellow at the CER (2001-2006).