In response to a rapidly deteriorating security environment marked by geopolitical and security threats, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and growing uncertainty regarding the future of transatlantic security guarantees, the European Union has launched the ReArm Europe initiative with the stated aim of strengthening European defence capabilities and reducing strategic dependencies. Announced in March 2025, ReArm Europe seeks to mobilise substantial financial resources through fiscal flexibility, joint procurement mechanisms, and industrial coordination. While presented as a major step towards enhanced European defence cooperation, the initiative raises fundamental questions about the nature of integration in the field of security and defence, traditionally considered an area of “high politics”. The thesis argues that ReArm Europe does not represent a shift towards supranational governance in European defence, but rather reinforces an intergovernmental framework driven by national interests, particularly those of the EU’s most powerful member states. Drawing on intergovernmentalist theories, the research demonstrates that defence integration remains contingent upon state sovereignty, interstate bargaining, and selective delegation to EU institutions. The analysis focuses on Germany and France as key case studies, examining how ReArm Europe aligns with their national strategic priorities and defence-industrial policies. Germany’s post-2022 Zeitenwende and extensive fiscal reforms have created the conditions for a significant expansion of defence spending, which ReArm Europe supports through EU-level coordination without undermining national control. For France, the initiative complements a long-standing commitment to strategic autonomy, military sovereignty, and the protection of national defence champions. The findings show that while ReArm Europe promotes cooperation and interoperability, it ultimately consolidates the dominance of member states with greater fiscal capacity, industrial strength, and political influence. The thesis concludes that intergovernmentalism remains the most appropriate theoretical framework for understanding European defence integration. ReArm Europe, despite its EU-wide rhetoric, functions primarily as an intergovernmental instrument reflecting and reinforcing existing power asymmetries within the Union, rather than transforming the governance of European defence.
Giorgia P. Caprino (Thu,) studied this question.