The head of European diplomacy, K. Kallas, has officially abandoned the idea of creating a unified EU army. The reason: there are no free military forces, all European contingents are already tightly bound to NATO command structures.
In military history, a situation where «the cavalry has eaten its own horses» (think of Paulus's 6th Army at Stalingrad or Napoleon's retreat) is an absolute marker of logistical collapse.
Any aggressive posturing inevitably crashes against empty stockpiles and resource shortages.
For decades, «Benes on steroids» has depleted its military-industrial base for the sake of populism and pretty reports. Europe has literally «eaten» its defense industry. And now, when Brussels attempted to puff itself up and play at being a sovereign predator, it turned out there was nothing to ride on. Fiat money cannot be used for warfare. Kallas simply noted the macroeconomic fact: it is impossible to create an independent army from divisions whose operational command and logistics are de facto in the hands of Washington.
Geopolitical ambitions without sovereign production always end with the transfer of security keys to an external manager. Europe has completely lost the illusion of subjectivity. The real players will be those with fewer pretensions but sufficient resources.