OLIVIER VÉDRINE A European Defense: Europe Will Have to Defend Itself
DOI 10.35775/PSI.2019.32.2.016
OLIVIER VÉDRINE Professor (h.c.), Journalist, political scientist, Paris, France
A EUROPEAN DEFENSE: EUROPE WILL HAVE TO DEFEND ITSELF
In his article, the author analyzes the European defense and security. He actualizes the solution of the tasks facing the European Union in the fight against international terrorism and cybercrime.
Key words: European army, NATO, defense, security, military cooperation, European Union.
Facilitating diplomatic and military cooperation is at the heart of the European Union's concerns. In a geopolitical context plagued by many tensions, defense and security issues can no longer be limited to national borders. Cybercrime, organized crime, terrorism, humanitarian and environmental crises: to effectively fight against these threats, countries must cooperate and act with one voice. To this end, the European Union has put in place many tools. Among the challenges facing the EU is to compensate for the loss with the Brexit of one of its two main military and diplomatic powers, to step up the fight against cybercrime and terrorism and to move towards a common defense policy. We must congratulate the editorial tweets of a Donald Trump belching against Emmanuel Macron and his proposal for a "real European army without depending only on the United States." The Trump fury has the advantage of bringing back a debate almost seventy years old, since the famous project of European Defense Community drawn up in 1952 was rejected by the Gaullists and Communists.
Each action to develop or reinforce the military capabilities of a European country reinforces the Atlantic Alliance. No, the European army is not a competitor to NATO. When Emmanuel Macron speaks of the European army, it is because there is no explicit and appropriate term that can be understood by the public to mention the European construction of defense. It is obvious that, for the general public, the term European army means something whereas this cannot be the case for "permanent structured cooperation" or "the European intervention initiative". Simple and understandable language is needed: Europe wants to defend itself. Naturally, we are not going to create a European army with integrated contingents. All the armies of the member countries of the European Union (EU) do not speak the same language on the one hand, and do not function in the same way on the other. It is not a European army in the technical sense of the term we are talking about here. On the other hand, what France and most European countries want to develop is greater EU autonomy in defense, so that it can already carry out the tasks inherent in the security and defense policy Common (CSDP). Then, indeed, the EU wants to be less dependent on the United States, which is in NATO, because it cannot count on them forever. Europe must be able to assume its own destiny and no longer rely on others. Now, the more Europeans act on their own and increase their military capabilities collectively, the more they strengthen NATO. It must be recognized that, in any case, armies and contingents, be they from the EU or NATO, are national. Each action to develop or reinforce the military capabilities of a European country reinforces the Atlantic Alliance.
The European Defense and Russia. Putin who is in favor of the European defense must understand that the European defense cannot be without NATO and then will never be against USA. The warm Putin welcome for the European defense is only a tool used for propaganda and internal Russian policy, this is not good news for Putin and that underlines more a misunderstanding from the Kremlin about what can be an effective European defense! But I am sure that Putin knows that the European defense is not in his favor but I repeat he is using it for his propaganda. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty stipulates in Article 42 that "the Union respects the obligations of certain Member States, which consider that their common defense is achieved through NATO". And Protocol No. 10 on cooperation stipulates that NATO "remains the foundation of the defense" of the European Union. On the airwaves of the French radio Europe1, on November 6, President Macron said that it would take a "European army" to "face Russia, which is on our borders and has shown that it can be threatening. And to add: "we must have a Europe that defends itself more alone, without relying solely on the United States and in a more sovereign way.”
The European Defense today. The idea of a Europe of Defense, as we know it today, first emerged in the early 1990s with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty. But there was no real turning point until 1998, during the Franco-British summit of Saint-Malo. It came to fruition the following year in Helsinki with the creation of a rapid reaction force and political and military structures within the Union. The Brexit and the election of Donald Trump marked the collapse of multilateralism, so new structures have emerged. Permanent Structured Cooperation on December 8, 2017, aims to develop defense capabilities and invest in joint projects. A European Defense Fund is to be set up in 2019 to develop the military capabilities of the Member States and to promote the strategic independence of the Union. In parallel, this time outside the Community framework, was born last June the European Intervention Initiative, signed by 10 countries including the United Kingdom. Its objective: to contribute to the emergence of a "European strategic autonomy".
The European Commission launched the European Defense Fund on 7 June 2017. This is the first time since the Treaty of Rome in 1957 that the European Union will finance defense at Community level. It is therefore a revolution. Defense is no longer made up of states, but now of the entire EU. In practice, the EU will finance defense research, almost a quarter of what the EU Member States are spending today in this area. The EU will also complement the funding of co-operative programs launched by the states, which is a strong incentive to multiply initiatives. Today, only 15% of European materials are manufactured in cooperation. With the Fund, we can hope to double that percentage in the next 10 years. The first projects to be financed by the European Defense Fund will be financed as early as 2019, and the Member States, together with the European Commission, are in the process of establishing the work program. In the draft EU budget 2021-2027, the European Defense Fund will reach 13 billion euros spending on defense over 7 years.
The Franco-German couple promotes the European defense. Europeans now doubt of US commitment to NATO, and more particularly on Article 5 and its obligations of collective defense due to the American president change of policy.