• Source: Security and defense pacts of the European Union

As of November 2024, the European Union has signed security and defence pacts with two countries: Moldova and Japan.
Rather than concluding treaties or alliances with external partners, the European Union's approach towards security and defence has mostly been focused towards what has proven to be a slow and gradual internal consolidation since the 1950s. For example, in the early post-war period, the Western Union and the European Defence Community both failed and were cannibalized by NATO. An initial impetus towards foreign policy coordination was brought about by the European Political Cooperation, which was replaced by the Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar in 1993. The European Security Strategy was launched in 2003, and was replaced by an updated European Union Global Strategy in 2016. The Treaty of Lisbon introduced the Common Security and Defence Policy, which, among other things, established a mutual defence clause between EU countries for the very first time.
Since 2016, a number of new initiatives were set in motion to actualize the new security strategy in the wake of the Russian annexation of Crimea, Brexit, and the election of Donald Trump. Among these are Permanent Structured Cooperation, Coordinated Annual Review on Defence, European Defence Fund, Military Planning and Conduct Capability, and Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space. There has also been a growing number of calls for the creation of a continental defence force or even that of an EU army, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The idea of increasing common defence capabilities also enjoys wide acceptance among EU citizens.
In this context, in line with its internal coordination in terms of defence policy, the European Union has intensified its external engagement in this area by signing security and defence pacts with the following countries:

Keir Starmer's cabinet has also shown interest in a security pact between the United Kingdom and the European Union.




See also


Common Foreign and Security Policy
Common Security and Defence Policy
History of the Common Security and Defence Policy
European Union as an emerging superpower
European Defence Agency
NATO
European Union–NATO relations
Major non-NATO ally
Moldova–European Union relations
Japan–European Union relations




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Security and defense pacts of the European Union
• Common Security and Defence Policy
• Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
• List of military alliances
• Warsaw Pact
• Treaty establishing the European Defence Community
• Migration and asylum policy of the European Union
• European Union–Turkey relations
• Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe
• Collective security