Europe has struggled to unite to fulfill the challenges of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine within the final 4 years.
The risk from Russia, and the rising tensions with the U.S. below President Donald Trump, have fueled options that the reply to Europe’s divisions, redundancies and duplications in its protection efforts is a single European military. The thought is nearly as previous as post-Second World Conflict European cooperation, but it surely’s been the topic of intense dialogue in 2026.
On the World Financial Discussion board (WEF) at Davos, Andrius Kubilius, the European Union’s Commissioner for protection and area, informed CNBC that the EU ought to think about establishing a standing navy drive of 100,000 troops, to be capable to “battle as Europe.”
His phrases come after Spain’s overseas minister, Jose Manuel Albares, informed Reuters that the continent ought to “concentrate on correctly integrating its protection trade,” arguing {that a} “joint effort can be extra environment friendly than 27 separate nationwide armies.”
However the EU’s Kaja Kallas has warned a Europe-wide military can be “extraordinarily harmful,” including its advocates “have not actually thought this by virtually.” “In case you are already a part of NATO then you possibly can’t create a separate military,” she stated.
Strengthening the European pillar
The thought of a standard European military was first mooted in 1951, when France recommended a joint European drive to counter the Soviet Union and to make sure that German rearmament didn’t threaten its neighbors. However the proposal was voted down within the French Nationwide Meeting three years later.
An evaluation by the Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research, printed in February final 12 months, urged European leaders to reopen discussions and argued that increased spending ought to go hand in hand with reform and integration of European protection forces.
“It is a massive problem as a result of European militaries usually are not designed to work with one another. They’re designed to work with america,” Max Bergmann, director of Europe, Russia and Eurasia program on the Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research, who wrote the report, informed CNBC.
He stated Europe’s response to any battle can be “very messy.” He added that the international locations’ militaries function various kinds of tools and are “spending some huge cash, however they don’t seem to be coordinating how they’re spending that cash. There’s quite a lot of redundancies, duplication, in addition to inefficiencies there.”
Lately, the European Fee has pledged to spice up the competitiveness and innovation of the European protection trade. To handle a number of the inefficiencies within the present system, leaders have additionally agreed to step up efforts of joint procurement of ammunition, air and missile protection, in addition to legacy techniques, with a complete price range of 310 million euros [$364.8 million].
Some European leaders have recommended that Europe ought to concentrate on strengthening its place inside NATO, moderately than pursue an unbiased armed drive.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb informed CNBC at WEF final month that the area’s protection functionality needed to be “used nationally and in NATO, not as an EU military.”
“We have to strengthen the European pillar of NATO,” he stated, including: “We do two issues: we enhance our protection trade… and on the second hand, we improve the capabilities of European states.”
Some current surveys have recommended that the temper has shifted since Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine 4 years in the past.
The EU Barometer survey confirmed that help for a standard EU protection and safety coverage has risen over the previous decade. It stood at 76% in 2014 after Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea and was 81% within the spring of 2025, the very best since 2004.
When Europeans have been requested about help or opposition to the creation of a regional military that included forces from their very own nation, 61% of respondents in Lithuania backed the concept, in accordance with a YouGov ballot in October final 12 months. In Germany, 59% of these surveyed favoured the proposal, while in Spain, that quantity stood at 58%. Greater than half of these surveyed in Denmark (56%) and in France (55%) additionally backed the proposal.
“Electorally, that is under no circumstances a loser,” Bergmann informed CNBC. “A number of the current polling has proven that Europeans are very nervous about their very own safety. They suppose that the potential for battle could be very actual… they need, form of, radical change relating to protection.”
Some safety specialists are skeptical the concept of a sovereign European military would win over voters, even in unsure occasions.
Guntram Wolff, a senior fellow at Bruegel, who specialises in protection economics, in addition to European rearmament, stated the concept of a sovereign European military was “fairly unlikely, except circumstances change dramatically.” He argues that residents all through Europe would like if their international locations delivered on joint protection.
“Residents have by and huge understood that it could be simpler and value much less. With the battle in opposition to Ukraine and the fracturing transatlantic relationship, European residents have turn out to be much more supportive of deeper European protection integration,” he informed CNBC through electronic mail.
Higher European protection cooperation is widespread throughout Europe — however there are challenges, warned Liana Repair, senior fellow for Europe on the Council on Overseas Relations.
“On the navy aspect, an important questions to resolve are decision-making and European command buildings. To this point, everybody remains to be counting on NATO buildings,” she stated.
NATO pledges
On the NATO summit within the Hague final 12 months, member states pledged to spice up protection spending to fulfill a brand new goal of 5% of GDP, after strain from Trump.
Spain was the one member that opted out of the pledge. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated that the nation would cap its navy price range on the “adequate and life like” degree of simply over 2% of GDP.
In an interview with CNBC at WEF, Spain’s economic system minister, Carlos Cuerpo, stated the nation must make “greatest use” of its cash “when it comes to actually reinforcing our military, our protection trade and our sovereignty round protection and safety.”
“Spain will do its utmost to reside as much as its commitments inside NATO functionality reinforcement… we shall be a dependable accomplice inside NATO as we’ve all the time been,” he added.
