Institutional responsibility for public statements on the deployment of European ‘reassurance troops’ in Ukraine

Priority question for written answer P-003424/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Pierre-Romain Thionnet (PfE)

On 31 August 2025, the Commission President told the Financial Times in an interview that Member States were drawing up 'pretty precise plans' to deploy multinational troops in Ukraine as part of a peace agreement[1]. Her words did not go down well in a number of Member States, with the German Defence Minister describing them as 'fundamentally wrong'[2].

Irrespective of any arrangements for a potential European 'reassurance force' in Ukraine, her statement runs contrary to Article 42(4) of the Treaty on European Union, which states that only the Council, acting unanimously and on a proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy or on the initiative of a Member State, can take decisions relating to the common security and defence policy, including those initiating a mission. As such, the Commission and its President have no decision-making powers or right of initiative when it comes to deploying troops. This brinkmanship jeopardises the cohesion, and thus the credibility, of Europe's combined diplomatic efforts.

• 1.Can the Commission confirm whether these comments were based on a Council decision or official mandate?
• 2.What legal basis and institutional role, if any, can the Commission lay claim to for drawing up or communicating Member States' troop deployment plans?
• 3.Will the Commission ensure that its future communications respect the institutional balance and decision-making procedures provided for in Article 42(4) of the Treaty on European Union?

Submitted: 4.9.2025

• [1] https://www.ft.com/content/8ade14ca-7aa1-4413-887b-59712037665c
• [2] https://www.politico.eu/article/pistorius-slaps-down-von-der-leyens-talk-of-eu-troops-for-ukraine/