A European army: so near and yet so far

Rafa Martínez, catedrático de Ciencia Política y de la Administración, Universitat de Barcelona-UB (rafa.martinez@ub.edu), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2365-7713

Adolfo Calatrava García (DEP), profesor permanente laboral, Instituto Complutense de Ciencia de la Administración (ICCA), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) (acalatra@ucm.es), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6279-047X

Miguel Ángel Marrero Jimeno, investigador junior del grupo de investigación consolidado GRAPA, UB (mikelmarrero@hotmail.com), ORCID:  https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8408-5360

 Iván Olmedo Palomino, becario de colaboración, Departamento de Ciencia Política, UB (nspolmedo@gmail.com), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5926-361X  

It has been seven decades since the six founding member states of what would become the European Union (EU) sought to integrate their armies into a common defence force through the European Defence Community. Today, while ever more European decision makers allude to the need to create such a force, it remains a distant prospect. What is it that is really hampering progress towards a common European defence model based on a shared army? What is the position of the main EU actors – society, political parties and institutions – on the subject? Using a variety of methodological approaches, this paper seeks to provide empirical evidence of the social, political party and institutional complexities hindering its realisation. Although the EU is not currently working on the creation of a common, single army, events such as the invasion of Ukraine could put it on the political agenda, and neither society, nor the elites, nor the major parties would be opposed.

Key words: European Union (EU), security, army, common defence, Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)

How to cite this article: Martínez, Rafa; Calatrava García, Adolfo; Marrero Jimeno, Miguel Angel y Olmedo Palomino, Iván. «El ejército europeo: tan cerca y tan lejos». Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals, n.º 137 (septiembre de 2024), p. 15-43. DOI: doi.org/10.24241/rcai.2024.137.2.15

Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals, nº 137. pp.15-43
Quadrimestral (May-September 2024)
ISSN:1133-6595 | E-ISSN:2013-035X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24241/rcai.2024.137.2.15

Fecha de recepción:  12.01.24 ; Fecha de aceptación:  24.04.24

Proyecto de investigación financiado por la Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) española PID2019-108036GB-I00/AEI/10.1339/501100011033.

>> The full text articles of this issue are available only in Spanish language