Description
Small states are often considered rule takers, rather than rule makers in international relations. Within Europe, the membership in the EU and NATO has helped small states “punch above their weight” but they still remain structurally disadvantaged. Small states have less personnel, narrower expertise and often rely on external actors for information and advice, be it other countries, institutions, or private actors.
This paper aims to study the role of private actors, companies and associations of the defence industry, in shaping small states’ position on PESCO. PESCO sits on the intersection between defence strategy and industrial policy. Looking at Czechia and Portugal, two PESCO members of similar size but different defence industry tradition, it asks how policymaking changes when significant private expertise and interest is present or absent. Anchored in the literature on small states and foreign policy analysis, the paper builds on document analysis and semi-structured interviews with representatives of MoDs, MFAs as well as the defence industry. It tests the hypothesis that the defence industry provided crucial input in small state’s decision-making on PESCO by feeding in expertise and information that is otherwise lacking and thus managed to shape the small state’s policy to its advantage.
