Permanent structured cooperation for effective European armed forces. Egmont Security Policy Brief No. 9, March 2010

In this Security Policy Brief, Sven Biscop and Jo Coelmont outline a concrete proposal to implement Permanent Structured Cooperation, the new defence mechanism introduced by the Lisbon Treaty. Setting real but realistic binding criteria for participation will allow Member States to invest more, better, and together in deployable capabilities. For the first time, participating Member States would create a binding commitment in the field of defence and allow an EU body, the European Defence Agency, to assess their performance