This study examines the EU’s unprecedentedly swift and coordinated response to the outbreak of the Ukraine war and explains its underlying mechanisms through the analytical lens of New Intergovernmentalism.
Traditionally, the EU’s foreign and security policy has been characterized by protracted negotiations, unanimity requirements, and limited crisis-management capacity, earning the long-standing critique of being an “economic giant but security dwarf.” Contrary to such expectations, the EU and its member states rapidly adopted wide-ranging sanctions against Russia, provided substantial military and financial assistance to Ukraine, activated emergency instruments such as the Temporary Protection Directive for refugees, and initiated Ukraine’s accession negotiations. This article argues that these developments are insufficiently explained by classical intergovernmentalism, which emphasizes state sovereignty and veto constraints, and instead reflect the distinctive post-Maastricht governance dynamics captured by New Intergovernmentalism.
The empirical analysis demonstrates that three mutually reinforcing factors enabled this rapid collective action: the leadership of intergovernmental bodies such as the European Council and the Council, the strategic and facilitative role of supranational institutions, particularly the European Commission, and the activation of informal institutional mechanisms that allowed member states to circumvent legal and political constraints. The European Council orchestrated major decisions on sanctions and defense, while the Commission provided technical expertise, agenda-shaping functions, and normative justification. Simultaneously, instruments such as the European Peace Facility enabled military support beyond the limits of EU treaty law.
The findings indicate that EU crisis governance increasingly relies on cooperative interactions between intergovernmental and supranational actors and on flexible, informal arrangements rather than formal supranational delegation. The Ukraine war thus represents a critical case illustrating how New Intergovernmentalism offers a compelling explanation for the EU’s evolving security actorness and its capacity for rapid collective response.