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European Defense

Recent French History concerning European Defense

In 1988, France and Germany annexed the Treaty of Elysée to include the creation of the Franco German Defense and Security Council. The close cooperation and coordination between the two armies soon led to the Franco-German brigade.

By 1993 the nations' strides towards collective defense spawned the European Corps, which proved its proficiency in managing the crisis in the Balkans.

At the St. Malo Summit in 1998, France enlisted the United Kingdom's military services as an effort to build European Security and Defense. The UK and France harmonized their approach towards Africa and increased co-operation on the ground. The French and British agreed to the exchange of information between capitals and local embassies; joint Franco-British Africa Heads of Mission conferences and a joint visit by the Foreign Ministers.

The Nice Summit in December of 2000 inaugurated a European Rapid Reaction Force. President Jacques Chirac pushed to make the entity separate from NATO, but after British and German objection, the force included itself under the NATO umbrella. The outcome of the Nice Summit represented a positive development in the eyes of the US whose NATO had been the cornerstone of European Defense since 1949.

Throughout 2003, bilateral efforts to bolster European defense continued between France and the UK. Specific efforts were made to coordinate aircraft carrier industries resulting in blueprints of inter-operable aircrafts and products scheduled to appear by late 2004 and 2005.

NATO and the current European defense

Minister of Defense Michèle Alliot-Marie has confronted the issue of whether the Atlantic Alliance and Europe Defense are competing or complementary bodies. In short, her response is the latter, although she concedes, “the difference of view on last year's intervention in Iraq prompted discussions and fanned doubts in this respect.” The simultaneous enlargement of membership to both NATO and the EU further enunciated this ambivalence. Nevertheless, in July of 2004 Alliot-Marie affirmed, “the Atlantic Alliance is Europe’s security pillar.” Development of a European Defense policy is beneficial to both Europe and the Alliance in the eyes of France. By fostering a collective defense and security policy in Europe, NATO operations will benefit from stronger and more organized European support system. In times where the Alliance may not see their interests fit, Europe must be capable to act on its own. In Alliot-Marie's appraisal, “building Defense Europe is not contrary to the interests of NATO, quite the reverse. Development of the European Security and Defense Policy is beneficial to both Europe and the Alliance.”

Obstacles faced by the European Defense

In an interview with a German newspaper Alliot-Marie bemoaned the fact that only three European nations, France, Britain and Greece, spend more than 2% of their GDP on defense. This deficiency in spending, however, reflects financial problems faced by many member-states. Alliot has proposed that defense spending not be included in the calculations of a government’s deficit; “it is unfair to punish States who are making efforts to protect not only their nationals, but also all Europeans.” Another point of interest (and discrepancy) is the military systems of the European nations. For example, France has eliminated conscription and professionalized their military. Despite its expense, Alliot has attributed the adaptability and efficiency of the French military to this transition from conscription to a career army. Moreover, not all the nations of Europe Defense posses nuclear weapons.

Progress of Europe Defense

In a speech on September 17th Michèlle Alliot-Marie summed up the progress of Europe Defense: “Ten years ago the notion of a collective European Defense was, in the eyes of much of the world, just a pipedream. Five years ago it was just fine words. Today the concept has become a reality.” The past two years have witnessed three concrete developments, the European Defense Agency (EDA), joint European battle groups and a European Gendarmie. The EDA's foremost objective is “to help the EU streamline its efforts in technological areas, to reinforce Europe's industrial foundation and to foster research. The emergence of a real European defense industry is essential for greater EU competitiveness.” The common need in crises around Europe to move from “military” to “civilian” security will render the task of the European Gendarmie extremely important.

Testimony of France's active participation and European Defense progress can be found through NATO's recent transfer of command to French generals in both Kosovo and Afghanistan. Furthermore, “in Operation Artemis Europe also showed its ability to act totally autonomously in a tough situation” according to Alliot-Marie in a speech at Les Embiez on September 7th. After delineating recent accomplishments of the European Security Strategy (ESS) (i.e. the EU's own legal structure and 'concept of force'), Alliot-Marie highlighted the potential fruits of the ESS, “military intervention, police mission, civilian assistance, humanitarian and also reconstruction aid.”