Social SciencesInternational RelationsPolitical ScienceEuropean StudiesInstitutional TheoryPolitical InstitutionsEuropean IntegrationEuropean PoliticsEuropean Union InstitutionsEuropean Union StudiesInstitutional AnalysisInstitutional StructureEuropean Defence IntegrationEuropean RelationsEuropean Union Policy-makingEuropean Union Politics
When British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave new impetus to a serious defence role for the European Union, he insisted that the debate should focus on real military capabilities, and stay clear of the institutional swamp in which previous attempts had been lost. Yet, institutions matter for the EU in a unique way: the process of European integration is a joint exercise in norms-setting and institution-building. Since the 1980s, each new step in European integration has brought along its own set of institutional requirements. Defence will inevitably do the same, all the more so because the EU is currently void of any defence culture: only in a specialised institutional setting will such a culture be imported into it, and solidify.