European Defense Report

"More European, More Connected, More Capable: Building the European Armed Forces of the Future"

Europe stands at a crossroads: Its military capabilities are stagnating while its security challenges are rising. How can Europe better provide for its own security? The Munich Security Conference’s newly published report, "More European, More Connected, More Capable: Building the European Armed Forces of the Future", aims at driving this debate forward.

The Munich Security Conference’s newly published report, "More European, More Connected, More Capable: Building the European Armed Forces of the Future", a research project with McKinsey & Company and the Hertie School's Centre for International Security Policy (CISP), aims to inform this important debate as governments across Europe discuss significant hikes in military spending.

However, simply spending more is not the answer to every challenge. Which areas should European countries increasingly invest in, and how will they get the best possible security and defense for what they spend? Which parts of the European defense effort should be organized jointly – or even be fully integrated – and which should remain national? In short, how will higher defense budgets translate into more European, more connected, and more capable armed forces? These are some of the questions the report tackles.

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Bibliographic data: David Bachmann, Tobias Bunde, Quirin Maderspacher, Adrian Oroz, Gundbert Scherf, Kai Wittek, “More European, More Connected and More Capable: Building the European Armed Forces of the Future,” Munich: Munich Security Conference, McKinsey, Hertie School of Governance, 2017, https://doi.org/10.47342/BXTP7454.

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Reaching the goal of spending two percent of GDP on defense by 2024, as agreed by heads of government at the 2014 NATO summit, would greatly help in this endeavor. However, the report's recommendations hold true even in the likely case that not all European states reach that benchmark. More important is that European leaders make smart choices to lay a foundation for a more capable security policy. Simply doing "more of the same" would mean missing a unique opportunity that could leave Europe's defense capabilities lagging behind for decades.

The report "More European, More Connected, More Capable: Building the European Armed Forces of the Future" served as basis for the discussions at the MSC European Defence Roundtable in Berlin on November 30. The roundtable brought together 50 senior representatives of European governments, parliaments, militaries, think tanks, and the defense industry.

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