After 'Brexit' EU revives idea of its own joint military command

But in circumstances where there is no obvious "lead nation",  the headquarters would provide the European Union a military planning and operational capacity it lacks, even for small missions, like securing the airport in Mali in January 2013, said Rem Korteweg, a defense analyst for the London-based Centre for European Reform. "The EU normally wants to deploy in co-ordination with diplomacy and development aid," he said, "and now can’t pull it all together."

The headquarters would allow faster deployment, Mr Korteweg added, "so you could slow the escalation of a nearby conflict and thus slow the momentum for migration."