Permanent Structured Cooperation – A Small Step for the European Military-Political Integration?
Permanent Structured Cooperation – A Small Step for the European Military-Political Integration?

Summary/Abstract: The present paper is aimed at providing a nuanced assessment of the well known initiative in the field of political-military cooperation between the EU member states established in 2017 – Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), in compliance with the requirements of the Lisbon Treaty decision making framework.The article highlights PESCO evolution, subsuming it under a set of similar initiatives that have got materialised in the European construction process,such as EUROCORPS or EU Battle Groups. Each and every step of integration,starting even from intergovernmental cooperation mechanisms, can provide long-term benefits, generating the necessary synergies to complete the European integration process. In this respect, it could be mentioned the establishment of the common European Union armed forces, a step forward towards the establishment of the European federation. However, the main obstacle for the small steps of integration to be followed by the big step is represented as always by the political will.

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