5 February, 2026
In this analysis, Andrzej Fałkowski takes readers inside the often opaque machinery of defence decision-making within NATO and the European Union—two institutions that share many of the same members, yet operate through markedly different political and procedural architectures.
In How the EU and NATO Produce Decisions on Defence, Fałkowski examines how national positions move from capitals into alliance and EU structures, how consensus is built and managed, and why coordination between the two systems can be both stabilizing and constraining. Drawing on direct experience inside these institutions, he explores the roles of key committees, the balance between political oversight and military feasibility, and the ways in which language, procedure, and compromise shape collective outcomes.
The article reinforces a recurring theme from RAUSI’s Beyond National Playbooks series: that strategy does not end with published documents. Instead, it is continuously interpreted, negotiated, and operationalized through institutional processes that influence readiness, signalling, and credibility over time.
Rather than offering prescriptions, Fałkowski provides readers with a clearer understanding of how decisions are actually made—and why, in complex alliance systems, the process itself can be as consequential as the decision.
How the EU and NATO Produce Decisions on Defence by Andrzej Fałkowski as originally published on defence24.com