Kubilius says an intergovernmental structure would allow willing countries, including Ukraine, to move faster
EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius is pushing to turn the E5 group into “an Informal Security Council” to kick-start a new European Defence Union designed to bring Ukraine into Europe’s security architecture.
The Commissioner’s plan, outlined on Tuesday during a Martens Centre conference, foresees the European Group of Five – the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Poland – taking the lead on drafting the framework for a new European Defence Union.
The Commissioner’s proposal deliberately sits outside the EU framework with Kubilius arguing that current treaties were not designed for Europe’s territorial defence and cannot easily accommodate close partners such as the United Kingdom, Norway or Ukraine.
An intergovernmental structure, he said, would allow willing countries to move faster without waiting for treaty change or unanimous agreement among all 27 member states. Kubilius envisages a threshold for the project to take off, saying “around 15 countries would be enough to launch the initiative.”
