NATO and the challenge of a European military identity: the European Intervention Initiative (EI2)

The tensions recorded in recent times between Europe and the United States and the fear of a possible disengagement of Washington from the Old Continent have given new strength to the idea of a European military identity. One of the last incarnations of this idea is the European Intervention Initiative (EI2), launched in November 2017 by French President, Emmanuel Macron, and confirmed on June 25th in a letter of intent signed by nine European countries. The impact of this project is still to be assessed, in the light of both its political implications and its relations with other similar projects developed over the years, especially the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). The possible impact of EI2 on NATO is also to be assessed. Washington's position on the issue has always been cautious, inspired by the "three Ds" with which State Secretary Madeleine Albright replied in 1998 to the project of a European military identity envisaged in the Saint-Malo Declaration. However, in the meantime many things have changed, both inside and outside NATO. Therefore, it does not seem risky to think that – especially on the political level – the emergence of a credible European military identity could have a positive influence on both the functioning and the solidity of the Atlantic Alliance.