EU chief calls for new hybrid response protocol, increased defense ties to non-members

MILAN — The head of the European Commission today called for the urgent creation of a new EU-wide security response mechanism for hybrid attacks, which could be triggered without military aggression and complement existing NATO procedures.

During her annual State of the Union Address today, the bloc’s leader, Ursula von der Leyen, also pushed for the creation of a new security council that would involve Canada, Norway, Ukraine and the United Kingdom — all non-EU states.

“We urgently need a consensus on how to respond to certain incidents. Those which fall below armed aggression but clearly threaten our national security…It is time for Europe’s own Article 4 – or an Emergency Security Protocol,” she said in her speech.

While Article 5 is the best-known NATO standard and has been invoked only once (by the US after the 9/11 attacks), Article 4, which von der Leyen referenced, results in a meeting of NATO members for a “consultation” about the security issue, sending a political message to the world that the alliance stands together without triggering military activity.

At this stage, this new EU mechanism is still in the pipeline, and its legal basis and powers are unknown. Questions include how the decision-making authority of the protocol would work once activated, whether it would require every member-state government to agree on what an appropriate response would be- for instance, coordinated sanctions imposed- or automatic intelligence-sharing or other predefined responses. 

Von der Leyen said one member state would trigger it, and all member states would need to convene to “coordinate a European response and deter further escalation.”

The EU already has a similar clause in Article 42(7), but it concerns mutual defense — if a member state suffers armed aggression, the rest of the bloc is obligated to assist. Thus far, it has only been triggered once by France, in 2015, following terrorist attacks.

Von der Leyen’s proposal follows a recent large increase in the number of sabotage threats and attacks, as well as drone incursions across Europe. The security protocol could offer a solution when a state faces a significant security threat that is not clearly armed aggression, including cyberattacks, the severing of undersea cables, or the protection of critical infrastructure.

A New European Security Council?

Another plan put forward by the EU chief was to create a new political leader forum focused on security issues.

“For a long time we have discussed a leaders’ format focused on the security of our continent. With partners like Canada, Norway, Ukraine, the UK, and others involved… This is even more urgent now,” von der Leyen said. “This is why we will set out our ideas to make a European Security Council (ESC) a reality.”

This idea has been floated several times previously, including a few years ago as an initiative that would have been Franco-German led. However, it ultimately never gained enough traction, mainly because of a lack of agreement on its structure, Luigi Scazzieri, a senior policy analyst at the European Union Institute for Security Studies, told Breaking Defense.

“Would it be a new body or an informal forum? Who would the members be? There was no appetite to set up a new body, and informal coordination frameworks outside the EU already exist… The questions of how the ESC would relate to the EU and how broad or narrow membership would be were also divisive,” Scazzieri said.

Based on details laid out in the Union Address, the expert noted that the model currently envisioned for the ESC appears to be “an inclusive and informal model” with regular dedicated meetings of the European Council, with partners also involved in conversations.

He argued that it would complement rather than rival NATO, as the topics discussed would be of a widely different nature.

“This would not be about military planning and operational command — instead the idea would be to give strategic direction to EU efforts to provide momentum and coherence to Europe’s defense build-up in terms of production and resilience across the board,” he said.

While not directly defense-related, von der Leyen had one more announcement in her speech, telling Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was in attendance, that “I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU.” That could have potential defense industrial implications down the road, as Carney has already shown a desire to increase ties across the Atlantic — though, like much of von der Leyen’s speech today, there are many questions remaining about what this might end up looking like.