More European defense cooperation, investments to fill deterrence gaps, a strengthened industrial base and a real ability to act autonomously, while maintaining a strong transatlantic bond. It is the heart of the annual report with which the European Parliament assessed the implementation of the Union’s common security and defense policy, in a context marked by the Russian war against Ukraine, instability in the European neighborhood and uncertainties over the framework of relations with Washington.
“The EU’s broader strategic task is to strengthen our global partnerships, improve our deterrence capacity and ensure that enlargement, neighborhood policy and cooperation with like-minded democracies serve our long-term security,” said German MP David McAllister, responsible for the report evaluating the common foreign and security policy (CFSP).
Russia “major threat”
In the adopted text, MEPs indicate Russia as the “main and most significant threat” to the EU and its member states, also in relation to the support of allies such as Belarus, Iran and North Korea. The evaluation starts from a clear judgement: the repeated Russian aggressions have eroded the European security order and highlighted the “failure of the related institutional and political processes”. Parliament maintains that only cooperation between countries based on jointly agreed rules can safeguard against the risk of war and guarantee common security.
Defending yourself without NATO
Parliament reiterates the importance of cooperation with NATO and calls for a renewed European security architecture that strengthens the transatlantic link in line with the EU’s strategic interests. At the same time, the text insists that Member States must be ready to act autonomously, taking advantage of the mutual assistance clause provided for in Article 42, paragraph 7, of the Treaty on European Union.
The mutual assistance clause is a sort of equivalent of Article 5 of the NATO treaties: it is triggered when a member state suffers armed aggression on its territory and obliges other countries to provide help and assistance “with all the means in their possession”. Unlike NATO, however, the EU clause leaves greater flexibility on the forms of intervention and takes into account the specificities of some member states, in particular those with traditions of neutrality. Furthermore, for the countries that are part of the Atlantic Alliance, the Treaty clarifies that NATO remains the foundation of collective defense and the main framework for implementation.
For the Eurochamber, this clause must become an operational tool, with “greater clarity on its practical modalities”, so as to increase the credibility of European defense and integrate in a coherent way with the guarantees offered by the Atlantic Alliance.
“It is not about competing with NATO, but about ensuring that Europe can stand on its own two feet and be a credible actor in security matters, for its citizens and its partners. In addition to increasing spending, strengthening our industrial base must go hand in hand with a renewed security doctrine, with confidence and with a strategic ambition that is up to today’s challenges”, said the Dutch socialist Thijs Reuten, rapporteur for the report on the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP).
The relationship with the United States
MEPs recognize that the United States remains Europe’s main strategic ally and an essential element for NATO’s collective defense, but the document also records the growing unpredictability of US foreign policy.
The resolution speaks of “growing unpredictability” and warns against “short-sighted isolationism and retreat to exclusively national interests” and the risk of a rapid withdrawal of troops from Europe, calling for this “the development of contingency plans” to guarantee European deterrence and autonomous reaction capacity.
In parallel, the text calls for an increase and better coordination of defense spending in member states, together with the strengthening of European capabilities and greater strategic autonomy, while maintaining a balanced transatlantic partnership.
Deterrence and industry
Parliament welcomes the increase in defense spending in several EU countries, but calls for greater joint efforts to avoid market fragmentation. MEPs point out that the Union has a “deterrence gap” and call for a change of pace on stock replenishment, increased industrial production, interoperability and standardisation.
The resolution calls for the need to “replenish depleted stocks”, “increase industrial production for defence”, reduce overlapping systems, promote standardization in line with NATO and “drastically increase investments in innovation”, to make the European defense industrial base more efficient and integrated.
Ukraine: priority support
The report reiterates Parliament’s full support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and states that “Ukraine’s defeat of Russia and Ukraine’s success are the most effective and least costly investments in European security” in the short and medium term.
MEPs therefore call for further strengthening of assistance and support for the Ukrainian defense industry, but also for integrating the experience gained in the field in areas such as hybrid and asymmetric warfare, drones, ballistic missiles, electronic warfare and air defense, inviting us to “build on Ukraine’s experience” to strengthen European capabilities.
While supporting a diplomatic solution to the conflict, Parliament warns that any agreement that rewards Russian aggression would directly undermine European security and rejects initiatives that would lead to “a security of Europe decided without the Europeans”.
An “arc of instability” around Europe
Parliament places security policy in the context of growing regional instability and increasingly pervasive hybrid threats, including sabotage, cyberattacks and economic pressure. From this perspective, MEPs argue that the Union must strengthen global partnerships and improve deterrence capacity, avoiding limiting itself to reactive crisis management. The text also underlines the need to increase the strategic and operational coherence of foreign and defense policy, so that the Union can more effectively protect its interests and values.
Greenland and US pressure
In the report, the European Chamber also addresses the Arctic and Greenland, reporting foreign interference and “explicit threats against Greenland’s sovereignty”, and stating that this dynamic represents “a fundamental threat to the EU’s strategic security interests”.
The resolution calls for the need for the EU and Member States to “act jointly in response” and cites the joint statement of 6 January 2026 which reiterates that “Greenland belongs to its people” and that “it is up to Denmark and Greenland, and them alone, to decide on matters affecting Denmark and Greenland”.
Enlargement as a security investment
Parliament also links European security to enlargement policy, arguing that the destabilization of the Eastern neighborhood and Russian pressure produce spillover effects in the Western Balkans and make a strategy of regional consolidation more urgent. In this framework, enlargement is seen as a geostrategic lever to strengthen stability and reduce the continent’s vulnerability to external influences, including in terms of disinformation and hybrid warfare.
