EU and NATO for defence of Europe: coherent, complementary and interoperable

The Presidents of the European Council and Commission and NATO Secretary-General on 10 July issued a second Joint Declaration highlighting substantial progress in cooperation between the two organisations.

Since the first EU-NATO Joint Declaration signed in 2016 in Warsaw, cooperation between the two organisations has developed substantially in key areas such as countering hybrid and cyber threats or defence capability research and development. The objective is to protect Europe and its citizens in the face of unprecedented challenges emanating from the South and the East. The EU and NATO are highly complementary, ideal partners in this context, the leaders acknowledged, with EU efforts to boost its autonomous defence capabilities also strengthening NATO. The second EU-NATO Joint Declaration signed on 10 July ahead of a NATO summit on 11 July takes stock of the achievements made and charts the way forward.

Following the first Joint EU- NATO Declaration of 2016, a total of 74 concrete common action points in seven areas has been agreed and are currently under implementation. Three progress reports were submitted highlighting the main achievements and added value of EU-NATO cooperation in the different areas. For example, the EU and NATO now exchange real-time warnings on cyber-attacks, coordinate and participate in each other’s exercises, and work together in the Mediterranean in fighting migrant smuggling and trafficking.

The Joint Declaration confirms the ongoing work. It puts particular emphasis on swift and demonstrable progress in priority areas such as military mobility, counter-terrorism, resilience to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear-related risks and the promotion of the women, peace and security agenda.

Original source: EC
Published on 11 July 2018