Re: And it comes down to france
Let's put a couple of things on the table:
First, the "military coordination" of the EU is a joke. They have no military. It is all gone. The percentage of GDP spent on the military is at all time lows across Europe. AND, NATO had filled that role more than adequately for 50 years.
Second, coordinating foreign affairs? The foreign interests of the Ukraine and France could not be more apart. What CM really means is that he, and a number of like minded people wanted a political and economic entity to challenge the US. End of purpose. For that the EU was going to have an additional layer of Government with a silly rotating Presidency which would have no real universal authority. Most of the critical decision making ability was still with individual countries.
Let it implode, and get back to the universal issue that make sense for Europe, currency, trade, travel and economics.