European Centre for Counterterrorism and Intelligence Studies, Germany & Netherlands – ECCI
An EU army is ‘not a priority,’ says the EU’s top general
euractiv ـ The comments come as the EU Defence Commissioner continues to push for an EU army. Setting up an EU army is not a priority, said Seán Clancy, the chairman of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC), who argued that Europeans should instead focus on quickly plugging military capability gaps.
Since January, Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius has floated the idea of an EU army, testing the waters to gauge capitals’ reactions. Kubilius has argued that an EU force could “replace the 100,000-strong American standing military force” on the continent as the US shifts priorities away from Europe to other theatres of operation, such as the Indo-Pacific.
But for Clancy, the EUMC chairman, the first priority is to clarify how to rapidly increase stockpiles of key defence equipment and reduce dependencies.
It is not just a question of a “big bang,” Clancy argued during an event in Brussels on Monday, alluding to Kubilius’ repeated description of recent EU initiatives aimed at injecting funding into Europe’s lagging defence industry.
Europeans have to “close the gaps” and become “a little bit more diversified in terms of our capacities and capabilities,” he said, citing air defence as the most pressing issue.
EU countries have committed to closing capability gaps by setting up joint projects to boost the production of weapons and equipment the continent needs. Nevertheless, it is still unclear what precisely such projects will entail.
“In the longer term, it’s about the EU having a regulatory framework and understanding about who will command” Clancy stressed.
On the military side, the Irish general noted that 23 out of 27 EU countries are also part of NATO, and already subject to the alliance’s Article 5, the famed mutual-defence clause.
“The defence of Europe remains within the realm of NATO,” Clancy stressed.
Outside NATO, Clancy noted that the EU also has the European Rapid Deployment Capability (RDC), which boils down to “a decision by the EU member states” about what assistance to send in an emergency.
The EU’s Rapid Deployment force, operational since 2025, includes up to 5,000 EU troops to deploy on missions for conflict prevention, stabilisation, evacuation or peace enforcement. Countries contribute troops that rotate and remain on standby in case they need to deploy.
European Centre for Counterterrorism and Intelligence Studies, Germany & Netherlands – ECCI
