A ‘Europe of defence’? The establishment of binding commitments and supranational governance in European security and defence

Cooperation between EU member-states in the field of security and defence is increasingly difficult to reconcile with the notion of intergovernmentalism. The decisions to establish the European Defence Fund (EDF), Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the Coordinated Annual Review of Defence (CARD) and most recently the European Defence Industry Reinforcement Through Common Procurement Act (EDIRPA) have resulted in integrative commitments between EU member-states. In order to account for these commitments, we must analyse the positions and perspectives of key (France, Germany, Italy, and Spain) EU member-states. The article adds to the literature on European integration in two respects. First, by developing indicators to identify and establish the extent to which a move beyond intergovernmentalism has taken place. Second, through the application of a comprehensive approach, which is required in order to understand why EU security and defence integration has come about.