The European Union has recently committed itself towards a defence policy. If it fails, the whole current European enterprise would certainly receive a severe blow. Yet, this project remains fragile, submitted to differences in perspectives, pitting Europeans against each other in key subjects, as in the Iraq crisis, for instance. It also remains thwarted by the hostility of a fraction of national bureaucracies, as well as misunderstood by the opinion. It must be admitted that this project is truly revolutionary, since it implies unprecedented renounces to sovereignty. Before it can be achieved, it calls for prodigious mutations in the diverse European armies. Moreover, it supposes that a much more balanced relationship with the United States, concerning military affairs, be established. If these problems are resolved, enormous progresses will be made possible. Apparently, a lot of these problems are technical. They actually involve major political issues. –Summary AFRI-2003