The Foreign Affairs Council in Defence Configuration (FAC Defence) is a sectoral meeting format of the Council of the European Union in which the defence ministers of the 27 member states convene under the chairmanship of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Its legal foundation rests on Article 16 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), which establishes the Council's composition in different configurations, and on Article 18 TEU, which assigns the High Representative the presidency of the Foreign Affairs Council. The Lisbon Treaty, in force since 1 December 2009, consolidated the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) under Articles 42–46 TEU, providing the substantive remit that defence ministers exercise when meeting in this configuration. European Council Decision 2009/881/EU on the exercise of the Presidency further codified that the FAC, unlike rotating-presidency formations, is chaired by the High Representative.
Procedurally, FAC Defence meetings are convened at the initiative of the High Representative, in coordination with the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the rotating Council presidency, which retains a supporting logistical role. The agenda is prepared by the Political and Security Committee (PSC, also known by its French acronym COPS), which operates at ambassadorial level in Brussels under Article 38 TEU, and by the EU Military Committee (EUMC), composed of member states' Chiefs of Defence or their permanent military representatives. Draft conclusions are negotiated in advance by the Politico-Military Group (PMG) and the PSC. At the table, ministers adopt Council conclusions, approve Crisis Management Concepts, authorise the launch of CSDP missions and operations, and endorse capability-development decisions. Voting follows the general CSDP rule of unanimity under Article 42(4) TEU, although constructive abstention under Article 31(1) TEU permits a member state to abstain without blocking a decision.
Beyond formal decision-making, FAC Defence sessions integrate the steering boards of two key agencies. The High Representative chairs the European Defence Agency (EDA) Steering Board in defence ministers' formation, established by Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/1835 (recasting the original 2004 Joint Action). Ministers also receive briefings from the NATO Secretary General—a practice institutionalised since the 2016 EU-NATO Joint Declaration signed in Warsaw—and increasingly hold joint sessions with foreign ministers when hybrid threats, sanctions, or operational mandates require integrated political-military judgment. Informal "Gymnich-style" meetings of defence ministers, hosted by the rotating presidency in its national capital, complement the formal Brussels and Luxembourg sessions but cannot adopt binding acts.
Contemporary practice illustrates the configuration's operational weight. On 17 May 2022, the FAC Defence under High Representative Josep Borrell approved the second tranche of assistance to Ukraine under the European Peace Facility, the off-budget instrument established by Council Decision (CFSP) 2021/509 that finances lethal and non-lethal military aid. In November 2022 ministers launched the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine) under Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/1968. Following the appointment of Kaja Kallas as High Representative on 1 December 2024, the configuration has concentrated on implementing the Strategic Compass adopted in March 2022, the European Defence Industrial Strategy presented by the Commission in March 2024, and the proposed European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP).
The configuration is distinct from several adjacent formats with which practitioners must not confuse it. It differs from the Foreign Affairs Council in its standard (foreign ministers) configuration, which handles diplomacy, sanctions, and external trade-policy aspects of CFSP. It is separate from the European Council, where heads of state or government set strategic orientations under Article 26 TEU but do not exercise legislative or operational decision-making on CSDP missions. It is also distinct from NATO's Defence Ministers Meeting at the North Atlantic Council, although membership overlaps for 23 states as of 2024. Unlike the Eurogroup, FAC Defence is a treaty-based formal Council formation, not an informal body.
Edge cases and controversies attend several dimensions. Denmark's opt-out from CSDP, embedded in Protocol No. 22, prevented Danish defence ministers from participating in operational decisions until the 1 June 2022 referendum abolished the opt-out; Denmark joined CSDP fully on 1 July 2022. The unanimity requirement has periodically produced friction, notably Hungary's repeated holds on European Peace Facility tranches for Ukraine throughout 2023–2024. The growing intersection between defence-industrial policy—legally grounded in Article 173 TFEU and managed by Commission DG DEFIS since 2020—and CSDP raises institutional questions about whether industrial decisions belong in FAC Defence or in the Competitiveness Council, an unresolved tension visible in EDIP negotiations.
For the working practitioner, FAC Defence is the indispensable forum for tracking the EU's transition from a primarily civilian crisis-management actor toward a defence actor with industrial capacity, rapid-deployment ambitions (the 5,000-strong Rapid Deployment Capacity targeted for 2025 under the Strategic Compass), and sustained military assistance programmes. Desk officers covering European security, defence attachés in Brussels embassies, and analysts at think tanks such as the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) monitor its conclusions as the authoritative statement of collective European defence intent, second only to European Council conclusions in political weight.
Example
On 20 November 2023, EU defence ministers meeting in the Foreign Affairs Council Defence configuration under High Representative Josep Borrell endorsed an increased ammunition-delivery target for Ukraine under the European Peace Facility.