EUROPE: Common Defence Makes Historic Headway

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Sanja Romic

BRUSSELS, Jan 7 2004 (IPS) - The mid-December European summit in Brussels brought a watershed agreement on EU defence despite the failure to agree a new constitution.

French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and British Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed the setting up of a temporary, independent European Union (EU) planning cell within the North Atlantic Treaty organisation (NATO) centre at Mons, Belgium.

A breakthrough came after Britain insisted that EU defence forces could act only if NATO chooses not to get involved in a given military operation.

Paris and Berlin agreed to the establishment of a planning structure within the NATO headquarters following Britain’s objections to duplication of NATO capacities.

A counterpart, a NATO EU defence liaison office has been envisaged with the EU.

The new planning unit in Brussels will serve as advisory unit to the European Council on strategic development. The NATO-based office will be tasked with planning NATO-assisted operations for the EU.

The new defence moves provide for strengthening EU capability. The outline for future EU defence operations comes in the Berlin Plus Agreement underlying EU-NATO cooperation.

This plan proposed by Germany and France envisages an independent European headquarters separate from NATO, and the utilisation of NATO’s resources in conducting military operations "taking into account in particular the Alliance’s role, capacities, and involvement in the region in question."

Outgoing NATO chief Lord Robertson welcomed the agreement between the European three.

"This will certainly strengthen transatlantic relations," he said at a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. "But NATO remains first choice given the fact that the EU command headquarters will only be temporary. It will also enable more transparency in EU defence policy."

Chirac’s view paralleled that of Robertson. "When the four of us, France, Belgium, Germany and Britain proposed autonomous defence, it was not meant to be competition to NATO but complementary to it," Chirac said at the Brussels summit. "What we decided is that when NATO doesn’t decide to intervene, then we can do that."

Blair said "it is important to recall now that we have an agreement on defence, the European defence, something people thought frankly was impossible some time ago." He added that Britain expects to play a central part in the new European defence.

Norway, Canada and other non-EU NATO members have tacitly approved the EU move. They had earlier expressed fears about lack of transparency in future defence policy.

NATO liaison officers will be given access to the new military planning cell, but they will not participate in planning operations. Officers are due to be seconded to the cell soon.

Irish minister for foreign affairs and president of European Council Brian Cowen says the European strategy will concentrate on fighting terrorism, strengthening relations with the Middle East and the Arab world, and developing a comprehensive policy for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"The presidency will have to take up the existing policy and take it forward in cooperation with the EU high representative for common foreign and security policy," Cowen said.

The symbolic move towards some independence from NATO has run into opposition within the Bush administration.

U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expressed doubts about EU motives. He says the plans to reinforce military capacities of EU states represent unnecessary competition to NATO.

The new challenge for the EU is the achievement of defence power status and enhancement of EU unity while reaffirming the EU-U.S. transatlantic partnership.

Lord Robertson said maintaining the present hierarchy of choices for future military interventions is pivotal. "The first choice should be NATO," he said. "The second choice should be the Berlin Plus agreement, whereby EU is free to utilise NATO’s forces and means. The third option remains independent EU military intervention."