Die EU auf dem Weg zu einer resilienten Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik

In the last couple of years, the world has undergone profound geopolitical changes in the shadow of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the increasingly aggressive stance of the United States towards Europe and the European Union. Kant’s idea of a world united in friendship among states respectful of international law may still be valid for and within the EU and its Member States themselves, but outside of them, Hobbes’ idea of the state of nature as an international anarchy seems to prevail. This article therefore examines how the Union, on the basis of its own legal order, can enhance its security and defence resilience in order to continue to exist and to make decision autonomously in a massively changed world. Without a genuine Union competence in the field of defence, this might only possible through a skillful, primary law-compliant handling of the unanimity principle, or through secondary law detours and adaptations in other, defence-related areas of competence.