Paper I of IV - the Strategic Case
Why Article 42.7 Must Be Made Real
Curated by Robin Ashby May-July 2026
"The citizens of Europe are tired of the strategic babble of their leaders... They should stop talking and start acting." — Frederic Mauro, IRIS, October 2021
Article 42.7 of the Treaty on European Union is the EU's mutual defence clause — legally binding on all member states, invoked once, and largely unknown outside specialist circles. It is, in the common diplomatic phrase, a paper tiger: a commitment that exists on paper without the institutional machinery, military capacity, or political credibility to make it real. This paper — the first in a series of four — addresses the strategic case: why the clause matters, what threatens its credibility, and what structural gaps must be closed. Papers II, III and IV address the institutional architecture, capabilities, and the industrial and procurement foundation respectively.
Dropping the pilot