The State of the European Union. The European Parliament faces its most important elections yet

PROTECTING ITS CITIZENS IS BECOMING AN EVER MORE CENTRAL PART OF THE EUROPEAN UNION’S JOB, WITH THE DEVELOPMENT... 115 member of the Group of Four, which plays a key role despite having no formal recognition. This enhances Spain’s status at the European level, and means it is part of the leading group of one of the most important initiatives to have been undertaken since the United Kingdom’s with- drawal was announced. Spain is participating in 17 of the 34 PESCO projects, although it was initially expected to take part in 19. These projects will vary in scope, but they are all linked to Spain’s operational needs and, as noted above, they involve all the groups that have been established as part of PESCO. These are: joint training and exercises, operational domains (land, sea, air and cyber defence) and joint enabling capacities (to cover operational gaps). In the training and facilities area, Spain will participate in the Training Mission Competence Centre (TMCC) led by Germany, and in the Operational Energy Function Programme, led by France, among others. Spain has more extensive participation in programmes and initiatives in operational domains, with a presence in all four. On land, these include the military deployment capacities package. In the air, Spain joins France, Germany and Italy in the MAIL RPAS programme, to design a European military drone, and on the Tiger com- bat helicopters project, which is led by France but with construction by Airbus at its Albacete plant. On almost all of these projects, Spain is working not only with France and Germany but also with Portugal as part of an increasingly close relationship between the two countries. The most important project, and the only one led by Spain, is the strategic command and control system for CSDP missions and opera- tions, in which France, Germany, Italy and Portugal are also participating. The start of this project was announced on 22 November at the Spanish Ministry of Defence, and work has started on all of its objectives during the first half of 2019. The main goal is to improve the command and control systems for EU missions and operations, at the strategic level. This pro- ject has been identified as a possible central ele- ment in the creation of a new strategic HQ in Madrid, which would be linked to the general operating HQ in Rota, which will become opera- tional following the United Kingdom’s with- drawal from the EU. The Spanish government’s decision to par- ticipate in the air combat navigation system, a Franco-German project, is particularly impor- tant, although the system will not actually be operational until 2035. It will replace the US- manufactured F-35 fighter jet, and provide a huge boost to the European defence project and to PESCO in general, as there is speculation that this project, which already includes three Member states, could soon be incorporated into the PESCO projects, which offers the advantage of recovering a significant portion of the fund- ing, particularly important given its huge cost. Brexit continues to provide opportunities for European defence and security and for Spain There is no question that the Brexit referendum and the UK’s impending withdrawal is a huge problem for the EU and, in particular, for the UK. However, it has also created a number of oppor- tunities, both for the European project as a whole – with cohesion between Member states, institutions and citizens’ perceptions higher than at any time over the last decade – and for the development of the CSDP and, in particular, of PESCO, something that would have been impos- sible if the UK were still a member.