Overview
- The cross-party group, which issued its declaration Saturday on Europe Day, urges a swift European defense union that does not rely on the U.S.-led NATO alliance.
- The text proposes EU-level command structures and a rapid reaction force so the bloc can deploy in a crisis without U.S. support.
- The MEPs criticize national short-term interests for blocking joint procurement and say pooled orders could save up to €100 billion each year.
- The move is a parliamentary appeal rather than EU policy, with German signers including Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Michael Gahler and Tobias Cremer.
- Nuclear deterrence was left out of the declaration, though MEP Lukas Sieper expects the group to take it up and says any such capability should rest with the EU rather than a single state.