Lobbying for a Common EU Defence Policy

In December 1998, the heads of state of Britain and France met for a two-day summit in St-Malo, France, to discuss the defence policy of Europe. The resulting declaration asserted that “The European Union needs to be in a position to play its full role on the international stage” . “To this end,” it read, “the Union must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed up by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and a readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises” .