Transatlantic Solidarity for the Defense of the European Continent

On April 19, 2023, Lucio Gussetti, EU Visiting Fellow, presented a second talk related to his research project entitled, “Every Inch of NATO Territory: Transatlantic Solidarity for the Defense of the European Continent and Some Lessons From the Creation of the US Federal Armed Forces.” Gussetti is Director and Principal Legal Adviser of the European Commission for Foreign and Security Policy and External Relations and a former member of the Private Office of the European Commission’s President. Harold Hongju Koh, Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School and former Legal Adviser to the US State Department, served as a discussant. Holly Harris, Master’s Student in the European and Russian Studies program at Yale, introduced the speakers and contributed to the presentation.

Lucio Gussetti: “President Biden has repeatedly confirmed the US “rock solid” commitment “to defend every inch of NATO territory” based on Article 5 NATO. A similar, albeit not identical, solidarity clause is contained in the EU Treaties in Article 42. Since 1949, the European continent has developed a structure of concentrical solidarity provisions, the intra-EU bond for the 27 EU Member States, and the larger NATO transatlantic bond. The event aimed at discussing the scope, interaction, and future practical use of both legal commitments. The historical constitutional development of the United States provides for remarkable correspondence with, and for several lessons for the European Union as it engages in further developing its military capability within NATO. The event presented some brief considerations in the context of the emergence of the EU Common Defence.”

Read event recap on the Yale European Studies Council website: https://bit.ly/3MbJ5cf