HISTORICAL MILESTONES IN THE EVOLUTION OF EUROPEAN ARMAMENTS COOPERATION

European defence cooperation is one of the projects with a specific dynamism demonstrated in recent years through concrete initiatives with a certain multidisciplinary character. In this context, how European armaments cooperation supports the political objectives of sustaining an enhanced EU profile in the field of crisis management has been a priority. The practical reflection of this approach is related with a temporal perspective whose initial landmarks are set in the immediate post-Second World War. The development process evolved towards a European model of armaments cooperation based on two typologies. Firstly, they aim at associating armaments cooperation to the institutional framework of international organizations, as is the case with the Western European Union, NATO and the European Union. In addition, there are formulas of cooperation between European states developed outside the EU or NATO framework. Recent achievements indicate the feasibility of this solution, which also reflects the progress made in the overall process of developing the EU’s profile and contribution as a relevant actor in the security context.