French initiatives regarding the creation of the European Union Armed forces as an autonomous power unit

The article is dedicated to the initiatives of the President of France E. Macron and the Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel to promote in the EU projects related to the ideas of the “European Armed Forces”. The EU crises in the second decade of the 21st century, paradoxically intensified the trend towards autonomy of foreign policy and security, since they gave rise to attempts by the main “engine” of this association – France and Germany even before coming to power E. Macron to create a more advanced integration model based on the “euro area”. At the same time, the question arose about the “joint defense” of this group of countries, which, on the one hand, was conditioned by new external threats – Islamic terrorism, military conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, on the other – was considered as a factor of their cohesion and in the face of internal challenges. Macron E., who is a staunch supporter of the transformation of the EU into an independent “world center of power”, not only continued this course, but gave it a very significant impetus. An increasingly “unilateral” US policy under Donald Trump, including in the security sphere, played an important role in this. The article shows certain shifts initiated by the French President in strengthening the integration process in the “euro zone”, as well as some progress of the EU in the “joint defense”. At the same time, it points to the difficulties that he meets on this path, primarily related to the existence of NATO. The weakening of the positions of E. Macron and A. Merkel in their own countries add uncertainty to the issue of the prospects for this defense