What Happened The members of the European Intervention Initiative (EI2), a French plan to increase military cooperation in Europe, held their first meeting in Paris on Nov. 7. The main goal of the EI2, which consists of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Finland, is to develop a shared strategic culture and improve the ability of its members to carry out missions together. It is part of France's push to enhance Europe's strategic autonomy at a time of growing competition between global powers like the United States, Russia and China. Looking For Allies The EI2 was first proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017, and the participating countries (sans Finland, which decided to join later) signed a letter of intent to create the group in July 2018.