Sovereignty, parliamentary involvement and defence cooperation

This report finds that two discourses on sovereignty and defence cooperation can be distinguished. One where sovereignty is understood as 'independent authority' and the other where sovereignty is conceived as 'the ability to act'. The two conceptions of sovereignty rely on ‘legitimacy’ as the decisive factor. On the one hand, legitimacy because the state has decision-making autonomy scrutinized by national parliaments. On the other hand, legitimacy because the state is effective in delivering results in a modern, international context. Without unravelling which type of ‘sovereignty’ is meant, the debate on how the issue of sovereignty complicates defence cooperation will remain confused. Parliaments play an important role in reconciling the two different discourses as there are ways to improve their involvement in deeper defence cooperation without diminishing policy effectiveness