ABSTRACT
One European army means that the national armed forces cease to exist and are replaced with a single army, navy, and air force, with soldiers, sailors, and airmen on the payroll of the European Union (EU). Europeans should increasingly anchor their combat units, in army, navy, and air force, in permanent multinational formations, under permanent multinational headquarters. Military integration benefits all European states, big and small. Since the 2014 European elections, the Commission, led by President Jean-Claude Juncker, has begun to actively plead for a European defence union. Fragmentation of defence efforts is, after all, a European problem, which must be solved among Europeans by integration. The Treaty on European Union provides for a specific mechanism for defence: Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). Under PESCO, states would commit to multinational projects as the default option and launch national projects only when no other option is available.
