The European Union is becoming too obsessed with defence

By Richard Youngs, Professor of International and European Politics, University of Warwick

A new team of 26 leaders has been appointed to the European Commission, reflecting a carefully crafted balance of political ideologies and member states. Each will take on a different portfolio, from democracy to agriculture to innovation.

And for the first time, the EU will have a dedicated defence commissioner in the form of Lithuania’s Andrius Kubilius.

Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has made it clear that in her second term, the primary focus will be defence and security issues. She wants to convert the EU into a “security…

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