Struggling to craft a compromise on the thorny issue of collective defense, European Union mem-ber states have chopped a contentious proposal that courted bitter division. The move to drop the controversial plan for a separate defense planning cell was made as leaders from 25 present and future EU states met this month to begin final discussions on the proposed European constitution. The draft constitution―notionally as dry as tinder wood―has, nevertheless, far-reaching implications for Europe's air forces and other armed services, both operationally and doctrinally.
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