EU har besluttet at opbygge en fælles militær kompetence for at opfylde de såkaldte Petersberg-mål (krisebekæmpelse og konfliktløsning uden for EU 's territorium), men har ingen fælles forsvarspolitik.
The EU has decided to develop a joint military capacity in order to fulfil the so-called Petersberg objectives (crisis management and conflict resolution outside the territory of the EU), but it has no common defence policy.