French President Emmanuel Macron is foolishly dreaming of a European Union defense force — in his mind, hopefully, established by 2020. Made up of military units from various EU members, the force would be separate from the NATO alliance which already encompasses much of the EU.

Why is this such a bad idea? European militaries are already underfunded, poorly-equipped, and inadequately-supportive of NATO. By throwing money at a separate EU defense force, this project would only further weaken Europe’s security while failing to accomplish anything important that NATO couldn’t already do.