Resumen de Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and Security and Defence Union (SDU) - Vitae parallelae?
The paper explores analogies, parallelisms and links between monetary and defence integration in the EU using several dimensions: policy content and the inherent logic of the instruments; factors triggering the process and its organisation; institutional aspects; differentiated integration and the relative importance for European integration. Despite the fundamentally different way the two policy areas have been organised (supranational and inter-governmental, respectively) it can be said that the mind-set of European construction is influencing the way debates, negotiations and compromises are being shaped, pointing to a kind of cross-fertilisation among policy areas. Given the different stage of advancement, the experience of economic and monetary union can be read in a way to inform the process of establishing the security and defence union. In addition, links between the two policy areas, the gap between Treaty provisions and actual policy-making and the role of the Franco-German tandem are highlighted
