The subject of EU's defence has been treated as a political challenge widely covered in the media in recent years. However, less attention has been paid to the troubles it presents at the military level. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on this issue, specifically, on the challenges that multiplicity of weapon systems in Europe entail, and the potential advantages and challenges pooled public procurement and harmonization of defence entails. To this end, it will briefly review the collaborative projects that have taken place in the last decades to focus later on two initiatives launched at EU level: the PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) and the EDF (European Defence Fund). Hereinafter, it will touch upon the implications this phenomenon has for the defence market and armaments standardization.
In the end, the key to address the points discussed throughout the paper is the same concerning every integration process: political engagement. It should be a priority for the Member States to reach an overarching consensus on collective military requirements. This can only be accomplished through a common strategic culture adopted by a widespread understanding that the threats the EU faces cannot be tackled from unilateralism and national points of view.