Article written in collaboration with European Careers Association Maastricht Authors: Kristoffer Saetre (ECA Maastricht) and Agnese Porro (EG) “The era of the peace dividend is long gone. (...) Europe is ready to step up.” With these words, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the Commission’s White Paper on European Defence. In a paradigm shift, the EU responds to evolving threats in the contemporary European security environment. The following analysis of