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Kallas Ditches EU Defense Advisory Panel Amid Member Pushback
(MENAFN) Plans for a new high-level defense advisory body have been abandoned by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas after member states pushed back hard against the proposal, media reported Sunday.
Kallas had introduced the idea just days earlier, unveiling it during an informal gathering of EU defense ministers in Ireland. She described the initiative as a way to pool top political and military talent to tackle gaps in Europe's defense readiness.
"The aim is to have some of the brightest minds on security and defence come together and really provide out-of-the-box solutions on how we can be faster in fulfilling these gaps and how we can be more effective," she said at the time.
But the launch, scheduled for Monday in Brussels, never happened. Guests who had been invited to attend received word on Sunday afternoon that the event was off, according to media.
The body was designed purely to advise — it would have had no authority to make binding decisions on behalf of EU member states.
Despite the setback, officials say the underlying problem remains unresolved. "The diagnosis has not changed that Europe needs to deliver faster on defence," an unnamed EU official told Euronews, adding: "Europe still needs to confront the question the group was designed to address, how to strengthen European defence faster."
The scrapped plan lands amid mounting institutional friction surrounding the European External Action Service (EEAS), which Kallas leads. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been pushing to expand the Commission's influence over the bloc's foreign policy — a shift that has reportedly put her at odds with Kallas on several fronts, including how to handle relations with Israel.
Adding to the tension, a Franco-German proposal now circulating would shift the EEAS under the direct oversight of the Commission President, even as it would expand the scope of the EU high representative's role.
Kallas had introduced the idea just days earlier, unveiling it during an informal gathering of EU defense ministers in Ireland. She described the initiative as a way to pool top political and military talent to tackle gaps in Europe's defense readiness.
"The aim is to have some of the brightest minds on security and defence come together and really provide out-of-the-box solutions on how we can be faster in fulfilling these gaps and how we can be more effective," she said at the time.
But the launch, scheduled for Monday in Brussels, never happened. Guests who had been invited to attend received word on Sunday afternoon that the event was off, according to media.
The body was designed purely to advise — it would have had no authority to make binding decisions on behalf of EU member states.
Despite the setback, officials say the underlying problem remains unresolved. "The diagnosis has not changed that Europe needs to deliver faster on defence," an unnamed EU official told Euronews, adding: "Europe still needs to confront the question the group was designed to address, how to strengthen European defence faster."
The scrapped plan lands amid mounting institutional friction surrounding the European External Action Service (EEAS), which Kallas leads. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been pushing to expand the Commission's influence over the bloc's foreign policy — a shift that has reportedly put her at odds with Kallas on several fronts, including how to handle relations with Israel.
Adding to the tension, a Franco-German proposal now circulating would shift the EEAS under the direct oversight of the Commission President, even as it would expand the scope of the EU high representative's role.
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