> For example, for a unified European army, either France, Germany, or Sweden is going to have to sacrifice their aerospace giants because Dassault, Eurofighter, and Saab compete directly and ferociously, and always undercut each other. And for tanks, Germany has to either sacrifice the entire chain for Leopold or France has to sacrifice the entire chain for Leclerc.
This is absolutely correct. That’s why the common EU military cannot be an EU equivalent of the U.S. military.
However, the EU itself is a novel and unique structure that was invented out of thin air. A common EU policy would also have to be a completely new model. One that’s closer to NATO but also has an actual common command with actual teeth that can call upon its French or German division to take certain steps that those divisions cannot refuse.
I agree. I think Macron's proposal for a tiered EU membership model might work as well - give some states the unified market and contracts enforcements, give other states that plus unified military posture under a single command, give other states almost complete devolution of powers to the EU
> that can call upon its French or German division to take certain steps that those divisions cannot refuse
A major additional issue is national constitutions as well. For example, Germany's constitution doesn't allow an expeditionary force outside of NATO territory, which pisses off France and Netherlands because they both have dependencies outside of NATO that face pressure from China (French Polynesia, Mayotte) and Venezuela (Dutch Antilles).
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And the question of Turkiye remains, becuase it's the only NATO state that has direct combat experience against Russian forces (Libya, Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh in 2016) and mass deployment.
Turkiye needs to be integrated as part of the EU's structure, otherwise the EU will continue to lack the heft needed to defend itself.
But Greece, France, and Cyprus will continue to veto Turkiye because of North Cyprus (Greece, Cyprus) and business+geopolitical conflicts (France)
Ironically, Germany has been quietly receptive to including Turkiye in the EU as German businesses and MICs are closely aligned with Turkiye.
This is absolutely correct. That’s why the common EU military cannot be an EU equivalent of the U.S. military.
However, the EU itself is a novel and unique structure that was invented out of thin air. A common EU policy would also have to be a completely new model. One that’s closer to NATO but also has an actual common command with actual teeth that can call upon its French or German division to take certain steps that those divisions cannot refuse.