The emergence of supranationalism and intergovernmentalism in European defence cooperation : the role of PESCO and its Secretariat

2020

Master's thesis in Political science and management (ME502) For a long time,theEuropean Union’s(EU) member states have meticulously ring-fenced defence cooperation vis-à-vis the potential intrusion of supranationalism. Thus, defence cooperation has been conceived as perhaps the most central part of core state powers in Europe. Has this changed since member states have agreed to establish the so-called Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in 2017? Cleary, PESCO has developed bothas a more structuredand legally ‘binding’cooperation in defence mattersamongst participating member states, such as defence procurement, training and capability development.Yet, the jury is out for as to whether …