Could the current political climate mean that more autonomous European defence is closer to becoming a reality? In voting for Emmanuel Macron, France’s electorate has endorsed the most pro-European president since François Mittérrand. The United Kingdom, the member state most fiercely opposed to beefing up the EU’s defence role, will soon lose its seat at the decision table. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has committed her government to meeting the symbolic 2% defence-spending threshold. And if that were not enough, US President Donald Trump’s wavering commitment to European defence has been read by many in European capitals as a sign that the time has come for Europe to build more autonomous defence capabilities. [...]