Europe beyond the EU: the European Political Community

The European continent is overlaid with a patchwork of memberships of different international and regional institutions: NATO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the EU and, the most recent addition, the European Political Community (EPC). The EPC brings together 47 European States and has carved a space for itself in a crowded diplomatic agenda. Three years after its 2022 launch in Prague, and ahead of its seventh summit in Copenhagen on 2 October 2025, the format has overcome early doubts and criticism and established itself as an essential piece of the political and diplomatic conversation.

By creating an informal arena for dialogue among the continent’s heads of state and government, the EPC has reminded Europe that it encompasses a broad polity of sovereign states – twenty of which are outside the European Union – tied together by geography and history, and with shared security interests. It is a meeting of the greater European family, bar Russia and Belarus.

Initially, some non-EU member states were concerned that the EPC was simply another waiting room for candidate countries, slowing the EU accession process by providing a parallel forum. In practice, the EPC has evolved into a space for sovereign equals, where leaders can engage with their peers, free from any hierarchy. Among non-EU states, Moldova, the United Kingdom and Albania have hosted EPC summits, while others are lining up for the role – a sign that they value their participation.

Although NATO remains the primary framework for hard security and collective defence in Europe, not all EPC members belong to it. Ever since the forum’s establishment as a response to Russia’s 2022 invasion, Ukraine has appreciated how it functions as a platform for solidarity, resulting in symbolic and practical support. For Kyiv and other non-NATO capitals, the EPC offers a chance to engage in discussions on shared security interests without formal obligations, preventing the strategic initiative from being monopolized by Western or Central European states.

The OSCE has been central to the construction of European security architecture since the 1970s, but it has been paralysed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Its consensus-based mechanisms have been blocked by Moscow, leaving the 50-plus organization – to which the United States, Canada and a number of Central Asian states also belong – struggling to function. In its upcoming report on the European Political Community (to be published ahead of the Copenhagen summit), BIG argues that the OSCE is no longer suitable for European security discussions in the current geopolitical environment. Thanks to its membership and format, the EPC is the best-placed organization to pick up the role that the Vienna-based body leaves vacant, and to start a conversation about Europe’s future security architecture.

In addition to the heads of state and government, the Copenhagen summit also encompasses the Secretary Generals of NATO, the OSCE and the Council of Europe as well as the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission. The EPC is a truly pan-European enterprise that overlays the map of existing binding connections and organizations and offers European leaders their own space to shape its future and strengthen internal European unity.