Europe stands at a critical juncture in its security and defence trajectory. The geopolitical environment has grown significantly more volatile, with an array of complex, interlinked threats. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, propped up by China, continues unabated. At the same time, the US President has questioned the interpretation of NATO’s Article 5 and signalled an intention to withdraw military assets from Europe. Many European politicians casually refer to a ‘European pillar within NATO’ – but few can say what this means in practice or even whether it would be possible without Washington’s full consent.
Against this backdrop, CEPS is convening a Task Force in close collaboration with Clingendael, the Institute for European Policymaking of Bocconi University and RUSI that aims to plug a major gap left by official initiatives and the literature on what form a future European pillar within NATO could take: one that acts through the Alliance if it can but autonomously if it must.
In doing so, the Task Force will assess the geopolitical landscape, examine ways to coherently plug shortfalls while joining up the defence industrial dimension with the operational, powered by a mix of financial arrangements, all geared towards reinforcing Europe’s defence readiness for the short- to mid-term.
Four Task Force meetings focusing on the geopolitical outlook, capability gaps and projects of common interest, financing mechanisms and governance issues will be organized, with the aim to produce a final report to be officially launched at the CEPS Ideas Lab in Brussels on March 2-3 2026.
For more information about the objectives and functioning of the Task Force, please refer to the prospectus below. To express your interest, kindly complete the registration form and email it to [email protected].
CHAIR OF THE TASK FORCE AND RAPPORTEURS
Chair:
- Sauli Niniistö, former President of Finland and Special Advisor of the Commission on Europe’s civil and military preparedness and readiness
Rapporteurs:
- Steven Blockmans, CEPS
- Bob Deen and/or Louise van Schaik, Clingendael (tbc)
- Daniel Gros, IEP at Bocconi University
- Jonathan Eyal, RUSI (tbc)
