Article 42.7: Are EU states compelled to collective defense?

"US President Donald Trump's rhetoric on everything from punitive tariffs to "ownership" of Greenland has been prompting a rethink of Europe's defense strategy. In Brussels, diplomats, officials and think-tankers have spent much of the past year debating whether the US would still respect Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which pledges that an attack on one signatory state would be seen as an attack on all, if called upon."

"In 2009, the European Union introduced a mutual defense clause under Article 42.7 of the Lisbon Treaty stating that "if a member state is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other member states shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power." The article further clarifies that this obligation "shall not prejudice the specific character of the security and defense policy of certain member states" a recognition that countries whose main defense commitments are shaped by NATO. Juraj Majcin, security and defense policy analyst at the Brussels-based European Policy Center, told DW that the main difference between the EU and NATO mutual defense clauses lay in the way defense support was to be delivered. While the EU provision was largely based on intergovernmental and bilateral assistance, the NATO's collective defense clause reflected"

US President Donald Trump's rhetoric on punitive tariffs and Greenland has prompted European governments to reassess defense commitments and reliance on the United States. European diplomats and analysts have questioned whether NATO's Article 5 collective-defense guarantee would be upheld. The European Union's Article 42.7 obligates member states to provide aid and assistance by all means if a member suffers armed aggression on its territory, while recognizing exemptions for states with specific defense policies shaped by NATO. The EU clause emphasizes intergovernmental and bilateral delivery of assistance, creating practical uncertainty about coordinated member-state follow-through.

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