European Security — 2026-04-26

EU Officials Draft Plans for Collective Defense Response Without U.S. Support

European Commissioner for Defense Kubilius has proposed an intergovernmental defense union modeled on the Schengen framework including EU states, the UK, and Ukraine, featuring a standing EU army of 100,000 troops, a European Security Council with 10-12 permanent members, a separate EU military headquarters, and joint arms stockpiles. The EU is running tabletop simulations testing its mutual defense clause Article 42.7 with exercises starting among EU ambassadors and culminating in a defense ministers' meeting in Cyprus in May. European defense expenditure has reached 481 billion euros in 2026 with the ReArm Europe initiative expected to mobilize an additional 800 billion. Spain's FM Albares has publicly called for European collective defense capability without NATO or US dependence.

Analysis
Kubilius's defense union proposal, combining a standing army, separate headquarters, and Security Council, is the most structurally ambitious EU security architecture since the failed European Defence Community of 1954, with each element requiring treaty-level changes no member state has publicly committed to pursuing. Per a single Bloomberg report, the Cyprus tabletop exercises in May are the near-term test. Whether Article 42.7 simulations produce concrete force commitments or remain procedural rehearsals will determine whether the 481 billion euro spending figure reflects genuine operational intent. Spain's public break from its Atlanticist tradition signals the shift extends beyond the Franco-German axis, though the autonomy rhetoric may function primarily as NATO summit positioning, a bid for greater European voice inside the alliance rather than genuinely parallel to it.

2 sources

EU plans collective response if member state attacked, with or without US support - Bloomberg via News-Pravda
Industrial policy or collective defence Europe picks one - Brussels Signal