European Parliament wants stronger EU version of NATO Article 5
BRUSSELS (ANP) – To this end, Article 42.7 of the European Treaty, the vague EU variant of Article 5 of NATO, must be made more concrete and stronger.
That NATO article entails that an attack on one is considered an attack on all. Tightening the European article is essential to achieve credible deterrence, according to the report of the European Parliament, for which the Dutch MEP Thijs Reuten (GroenLinks-PvdA) is responsible.
The article must be amended in such a way that it is clear in advance what the EU member states are concretely going to do to help a threatened member state, how quickly and with what means, the report states. The parliament also believes that European troops should operate under a command structure independent of NATO.
“Without political urgency and unity based on a shared perception of threats, the willingness to intervene firmly with military means and European command structures, we remain vulnerable,” says Reuten. “We must be prepared to take military steps, if necessary also outside the NATO framework.”
EU Commissioner Andrius Kubilius (Defence) said on Monday that the EU member states are obliged via Article 42.7 to come to Denmark’s aid if the country is confronted with military aggression. However, it remains unclear whether Denmark can rely on this article if the US were to take over Greenland by force.
Following Kubilius’s statement, the European Commission does not want to answer whether that article also applies to that overseas territory. Experts are divided on this.
(15 January 2026)
