PeSCo: The Greek Perspective

This paper will examine Greece’s national perspective with regards to the Permanent Structured Cooperation on defence and security (PeSCo). Government ministries and the domestic defence industry have been eager to contribute and participate in the development of the new European defence initiative and lead capability development projects. The government’s objectives and expectations are three-fold; the development of a common European defence, as envisioned in article 42(2) of the Lisbon Treaty, the fulfilment of the EU’s level of Ambition to act autonomously when necessary, as well as the enhancement of its national defence industrial base. Greece and its domestic defence industry are keen on linking the initiative with the European Defence Fund (EDF), as European funding would benefit project development. According to the Greek perspective, the Coordinated Annual Review of Defence (CARD) should also be connected with PeSCo, in an attempt to take advantage of synergies and ensure a level of transparency. The country is willing to include third parties in the process on a case-by-case basis, in line with emerging EU rules and procedures…