Geoffrey Van Orden (ECR). – Mr. President, I am always amused by the use of opinion polls. I wonder if the people across Europe were asked if, for their defence they would prefer to rely on the EU institutions or on the NATO alliance that engages the United States alongside the European nations. I wonder what they would answer. I have to say that this is not a question you would like, absolutely. I have to say I that I don’t agree with most of Mr Gahler’s report, but there are three phrases that I do actually agree with. The western democracies do indeed face unprecedented threats and challenges; the United States’ commitment to European security is welcome, and I would say essential; and that Brexit means the European Union could lose Britain’s military capability and expertise and there is a need for a new UK-EU defence cooperation relationship.

The logic of all this is to underline the need for western solidarity and for us all to put our energies into revitalising the alliance that binds the United States and Britain to the security of Europe. It is called NATO, but instead the European Union is creating an entirely separate European defence union separate from NATO but still involving most of the NATO allies. It’s all about political integration and the long-standing desire of a certain Member State for so-called strategic autonomy. Actually we don’t need PESCO, we don’t need EDU; what we need is for all the Europeans to spend more on defence to address crises alongside all their key allies and to have the political will to participate in military action when required.