Amid the current ‘polycrisis’, improving security and stability in Europe is likely to represent the main coalescing factor bringing together countries with otherwise significantly diverging interests and values.
The multitude of current security challenges offers as many opportunities for the EPC to be relevant. Yet, after a modest summit in Granada, the UK domestic political context seems to offer a rather unfavourable background to the next meeting. The possibility that the whole idea of a European Political Community could fizzle out is still very much present. On the other hand, as shown above, Prime Minister Sunak has a good opportunity to inject it with new significance. Rather than various forms of institutionalisation, the make-or-break factor may be a meaningful agenda with tangible results and the capacity to gather leaders around them. By focusing on European cooperative security in a de-institutionalised way, the EPC could yet avoid becoming another quasi-failed multilateral format.