The EU and NATO have further deepened their strategic partnership

The Council took note of the eighth progress report on the implementation of the 74 common proposals endorsed by the EU and NATO Councils on 6 December 2016 and 5 December 2017.

The report highlights and elaborates on the tangible progress achieved between June 2022 and May 2023, across all areas of cooperation.

Whilst tackling the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades - Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine – the longstanding EU-NATO strategic partnership is more robust and relevant than ever. The report underlines in particular that:

  • the EU and NATO have ensured unity, coherence and complementarity of efforts in responding to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and in particular in supporting Ukraine’s inherent right to self-defence, including through the establishment of a dedicated EU-NATO Staff Coordination on Ukraine
  • cooperation on resilience has continued to expand through the EU-NATO Structured Dialogue on Resilience, including in the framework of the joint Task Force on the resilience of critical infrastructure
  • the two organisations have stepped up their efforts and close interaction in the field of crisis management exercises
  • coordination has been further strengthened on security and defence capacity building for partner countries, notably Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia, Jordan, and Mauritania

Furthermore, the EU and NATO remain firmly committed to further strengthen, deepen and expand their mutually reinforcing and beneficial cooperation by exploring avenues for further collaboration across all existing work strands, as well as in new areas such as climate and defence, space, and emerging and disruptive technologies, in full respect of the agreed guiding principles (mutual openness and transparency, inclusiveness and reciprocity, and decision-making autonomy of both organisations).

Background

In 2022 the EU’s Strategic Compass and NATO’s Strategic Concept confirmed the importance of transatlantic unity, and provided new impetus to EU-NATO strategic partnership by calling for closer cooperation. This resolve was further reinforced by the third Joint Declaration on EU-NATO cooperation signed on 10 January 2023 by the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the Secretary General of NATO.