"There is a structural quirk at the core of current EU decisionmaking: national foreign ministries, not defense ministries, lead EU military cooperation efforts. This reduces the incentives for defense ministries to embrace EU plans, which include sound but challenging ideas like coordinating national defense planning cycles. A formal EU defense council would encourage peer pressure among defense ministers and would more generally help educate national defense ministries in the workings of the EU. To be effective, an EU defense deputy would need ample experience of military matters and the personality to command respect. Current defense ministers such as Ursula von der Leyen of Germany or Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert of the Netherlands would be ideal candidates."
A number of recent defense proposals could add real value to European military efforts, but first they will require much more buy-in from national defense ministries.