Abstract:

The article deals with the topic of permanent structured cooperation – PESCO. By adopting the EU's Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy in June 2016, the EU is striving to achieve strategic autonomy. An integral part of this autonomy is the area of defence and security. The struggle for defence and security of Europe begins beyond its borders, so a stronger EU own initiative to secure its defence is now the imperative of the time. PESCO is the first tangible result of this effort to help strengthen the EU's strategic autonomy as well as to strengthen NATO's European pillar. It has the potential to significantly reduce the excessive diversification of arms systems and military equipment across EU countries. PESCO is a member states’-driven cooperation format and now it is necessary to turn the PESCO commitments into real benchmarks. The article describes some aspects of this process; includes recommendation for the Czech Republic.