European Union governments agreed to launch 13 new defense projects on Tuesday.

Under plans made by EU defense ministers in Brussels, the bloc will collaboratively develop weapons including electronic warfare and detection technology to track ballistic missiles.

Five of the new projects will focus on training, covering areas such as cyber and diving, as well as biological and nuclear defense training. Twenty five EU member states signed up to the Permanent Structured Cooperation on defense (PESCO) in 2017, following Britain's decision to leave the bloc.

A total of 47 joint defense projects are now being worked on as part of the pact, which enables participating states, including France and Germany, to work more closely together in the areas of security and defense.

Speaking earlier at a press conference, Federica Mogherini, vice-president of the EU Commission, dismissed the notion that the EU was vying to become militarily independent. She said: "The preferred option would always be to go together with our partners, with others. But in case there is not the framework for that, the EU should be capable and able to go it alone. It's not strategic autonomy, it's cooperative autonomy."

Mogherini also confirmed member states have still not reached an agreement over allowing third-party, non-EU countries, including the US, to participate in the projects. She said: "We are much closer than ever to finding an agreement on the principles for third countries and entities to participate, but we are not there yet. Work is going to continue in the coming months. However, this is not the main purpose of PESCO. PESCO is not the instrument for partnerships. There are other instruments including NATO and the UN for that."

 

US concern

The Trump administration has repeatedly warned the EU of its "deep concern" about the risk of shutting out US defense companies from PESCO and has previously accused the bloc of undermining NATO cooperation.

However, French President Emmanuel Macron has recently expressed doubt over NATO following the US's unilateral decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria and Turkey's military operations against the Kurdish militia (the YPG) in the region, which the EU has strongly condemned.

France's leader described the trans-Atlantic alliance as experiencing "brain death" and called for deeper defense collaboration by the EU. In an interview, he said: "The instability of our American partner and rising tensions have meant the idea of European defense is gradually taking hold."

Other key EU figures have recently commented about the need for the EU to assert itself more, including Charles Michel, who will replace Donald Tusk as the president of the European Council.

However, Macron's comments have been criticized and dismissed by several EU leaders and foreign ministers in Brussels.

Following a meeting with the deputy secretary general of NATO, Mircea Geoana, Mogherini said: "EU/NATO cooperation has never been so positive, so concrete, and we are working on how we can improve it further."