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[[File:EU and NATO.svg|thumb|Map showing European membership of the EU and NATO]]
[[File:EU and NATO.svg|thumb|Map showing European membership of the EU and NATO]]
Following the end of [[World War II]] and the defeat of [[Nazi Germany]], the [[Dunkirk Treaty]] was signed by [[France]] and the [[United Kingdom]] on 4 March 1947 as a ''Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance'' against a possible [[Germany|German]] attack in the aftermath of [[World War II]]. The Dunkirk Treaty entered into force on 8 September 1947. Western European states save Germany joined lated the [[NATO]] later along with the [[United States]]. The [[Treaty of Brussels]] was signed of 1948.

In the early 1950s, [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Italy]] and the [[Benelux]] countries made an attempt to integrate the militaries of Western Europe through the treaty establishing the [[European Defence Community]]. This scheme did however not enter into force, as it failed to obtain approval for ratification in the [[National Assembly of France|French National Assembly]], where [[Gaullism|Gaullists]] feared for national sovereignty and [[French Communist Party|Communists]] opposed a European military consolidation that could rival the [[Soviet Union]].
In the early 1950s, [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Italy]] and the [[Benelux]] countries made an attempt to integrate the militaries of Western Europe through the treaty establishing the [[European Defence Community]]. This scheme did however not enter into force, as it failed to obtain approval for ratification in the [[National Assembly of France|French National Assembly]], where [[Gaullism|Gaullists]] feared for national sovereignty and [[French Communist Party|Communists]] opposed a European military consolidation that could rival the [[Soviet Union]].


Revision as of 13:21, 16 November 2009

The military of the European Union today comprises the national militaries of the 27 member states, as the area of defence is primarily the domain of nation states. In spite of this, a number of European insititutional arrangements and military forces have been established in order to further the the area of defence in European integration, resulting in frequent European Union military operations in recent years.

Several prominent leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, have voiced support for a common defence for the Union.[1][2][3] This possibility will be formally laid down in the Treaty on European Union following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009. Additionally, the area of defence will become available to enhanced co-operation.

History

Map showing European membership of the EU and NATO

Following the end of World War II and the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Dunkirk Treaty was signed by France and the United Kingdom on 4 March 1947 as a Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance against a possible German attack in the aftermath of World War II. The Dunkirk Treaty entered into force on 8 September 1947. Western European states save Germany joined lated the NATO later along with the United States. The Treaty of Brussels was signed of 1948.

In the early 1950s, France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries made an attempt to integrate the militaries of Western Europe through the treaty establishing the European Defence Community. This scheme did however not enter into force, as it failed to obtain approval for ratification in the French National Assembly, where Gaullists feared for national sovereignty and Communists opposed a European military consolidation that could rival the Soviet Union.

Nowadays, as 21 of the 27 EU member states are also members of NATO, some EU states cooperate on defence policy (collective security) albeit primarily through NATO rather than through the EU or aligned groups (such as the Western European Union). However, the memberships of the EU, WEU, and NATO are distinct, and some EU member states are constitutionally committed to remain neutral on defence issues. Several of the new EU member states were formerly members of the Warsaw Pact.

The EU currently has a limited mandate over defence issues, with a role to explore the issue of European defence agreed to in the Amsterdam Treaty, as well as oversight of the Helsinki Headline Goal Force Catalogue (the 'European Rapid Reaction Force') processes. However, some EU states may and do make multilateral agreements about defence issues outside of the EU structures.

Deployments

Main article: Overseas interventions of the European Union

In 2004 EU countries took over leadership of the mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina from NATO through the European Union Force (EUFOR). The mission was given the branding of an EU initiative as the EU sponsored the force to further the force's image of legitimacy. There have been other deployments such as in Gaza and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Recently the European High Representative for Foreign Policy, Javier Solana has indicated the EU could send troops to Georgia, perhaps alongside Russian forces.[4]

Future prospects

The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 January 2009 is expected to trigger member states of the Western European Union (WEU) to scrap the largely dormant organisation, but to keep the mutual defence clause of the Treaty of Brussels as a basis for a possible EU mutual defence arrangement.[5]

The Treaty of Lisbon also states the following:

The common security and defence policy shall include the progressive framing of a common defence policy. This will lead to a common defence, when the European Council, acting unanimously, so decides. (TEU, Article 27) [6]

On 20 February 2009 the European Parliament voted in favour of the creation of Synchronized Armed Forces Europe (SAFE) as a first step towards a true European military force. SAFE will be directed by an EU directorate, with its own training standards and operational doctrine. There are also plans to create an EU "Council of Defence Ministers" and "a European statute for soldiers within the framework of Safe governing training standards, operational doctrine and freedom of operational action".[7]

Arrangements

Further information: European Security and Defence Policy

The EU primarily acts through its Common Foreign and Security Policy, though Denmark has an opt-out from this and some states are limited by neutrality issues. As a result forces under EU command have been for peacekeeping, in which European states have a great deal of experience.

If all the member states' annual spending was taken as a bloc the figure would amount to over $311 billion, second only to the US military's $713 billion.[8] However the cumulative effect is much less than it seems due to duplication of capacities in individual militaries.[citation needed] There have been efforts to overcome this with joint projects such as the Eurofighter and through joint procurement of equipment.

Militaries of member states

Spending

US$ billion
The hypothetically combined EU military
budget compared to foreign military powers.
Country Defence Budget (USD) % of GDP Date
United Kingdom UK 69,429,180,000 2.49 2007 est
France France 61,096,740,000 2.34 2007 est
Germany Germany 42,904,200,000 1.28 2007 est
Italy Italy 28,886,160,000 1.36 2007 est
Spain Spain 16,862,220,000 1.16 2007 est
Netherlands Netherlands 11,574,060,000 1.5 2007 est
Poland Poland 8,002,620,000 1.89 2007 est
Greece Greece 7,699,020,000 2.44 2007 est
Sweden Sweden 6,248,640,000 1.36 2007 est
Belgium Belgium 5,198,460,000 1.14 2007 est
Finland Finland 3,576,960,000 1.45 2007 est
Austria Austria 3,541,080,000 0.94 2007 est
Portugal Portugal 3,335,460,000 1.48 2007 est
Denmark Denmark 3,271,600,000 1.5 ?
Czech Republic Czech Republic 2,735,160,000 1.55 2007 est
Romania Romania 2,630,280,000 1.57 2007 est
Hungary Hungary 1,789,860,000 1.28 2007 est
Republic of Ireland Ireland 1,349,640,000 0.53 2007 est
Slovakia Slovakia 1,142,640,000 1.51 2007 est
Bulgaria Bulgaria 1,015,680,000 2.55 2007 est
Slovenia Slovenia 687,240,000 1.48 2007 est
Lithuania Lithuania 452,640,000 1.17 2007 est
Latvia Latvia 447,120,000 1.63 2007 est
Cyprus Cyprus 407,100,000 1.89 2007 est
Estonia Estonia 346,380,000 1.62 2007 est
Luxembourg Luxembourg 288,420,000 0.58 2007 est
Malta Malta 49,680,000 0.66 2007 est
European Union EU combined 284,968,240,000 1.69† 2007 est

All figures are from the List of countries and federations by military expenditures

† The total EU GDP is calculated from the figures in the table as G = Σ( di / fi ), where di = (Country i's defence budget), and fi = (Country i's fraction of GDP spent on defence); and the percentage is calculated from that figure as D / G, where D = Σdi. Because both the defence budget figures (di) and the fractional GDP figures (fi) are rounded to the nearest USD 10,000 and 0.01% respectively, this calculation will clearly produce some error in the final figure. An error estimate in the resulting calculation is σ = √ Σ[ (σd (G − D / fi) / G2) 2 + ( σf (D × di) / (G2 × fi2) 2 ], where we have assumed a defence budget error, σd = USD 5,000 and a fractional GDP error, σf = 0.005. This calculation leads to a final figure of (1.687 ± 0.002)%, which we simply give as 1.69% in the table.

Manpower

Flag Nation Active Personnel Reserve Force Paramilitary Total Active troops/
1000 citizens 		Tanks Combat aircraft Transport aircraft Aircraft Carriers
France France 259,050[9] 419,000 [10] 101,400 [11] 779,450 4.27 1021 482[12] 147[12] 1
Germany Germany 210,500[13] 302,500[14] 45,050[15] 558,000 3.45 1874 371[16] 176[16] 0
Italy Italy 240,000[17] 68,000 [17] 238,800[18] 546,800 3.42 1180 460[16] 176[16] 2
United Kingdom United Kingdom 206,480[19] 233,880[19] 0[19] 440,360 3.41 1175 562[20] 197[20] 3
Spain Spain 177,950[21] 328,500[21] 72,600[22] 579,050 3.49 661 267[16] 110[16] 2
Greece Greece 177,600[23] 291,000[23] 4,000[23] 472,600 16.60 1000 254[24] 35[24] 0
Poland Poland 125,000[25] 234,000[25] 21,300[25] 418,300 4.23 1005 251[26] 87 0
Romania Romania 90,000[27] 0[27] 79,900[27] 173,519 4.31 340 71 70 0
Czech Republic Czech Republic 57,050[28] 0[28] 5,600[29] 62,650 5.57 179[30] 52[16] 71[16] 0
Netherlands Netherlands 53,130[31] 32,200[31] 3,300[32] 88,630 3.24 119 115[16] 43[16] 0
Bulgaria Bulgaria 51,000[33] 303,000[33] 34,000[33] 385,450 7.85 590 80[16] 46[16] 0
Belgium Belgium 45,800[34] 100,500[34] 0[34] 146,300 3.94 132 68[16] 37[16] 0
Portugal Portugal 44,900[35] 210,930[35] 25,600[36] 281,430 4.25 137 45 33 0
Finland Finland 36,700[37] 485,000[37] 3,100[38] 524,800 5.17 124 63 0
Austria Austria 34,600[39] 72,000[39] N/A 106,600 4.23 237 16 3 0
Sweden Sweden 33,900[40] 262,000[40] 35,000[41] 295,900 3.07 280 166[16] 41[16] 0
Hungary Hungary 33,400[42] 90,300[42] 12,000[43] 135,700 3.31 0 55[16] 30[16] 0
Slovakia Slovakia 26,200[44] 20,000[44] 4,700[45] 50,900 4.05 311 27 24 0
Denmark Denmark 22,880[46] 64,900[46] 61,500[46] 149,280 4.24 57[47] 60 15 0
Lithuania Lithuania 13,510[48] 309,200[48] 14,390[48] 33,100 3.53 2[49] 24[49] 0
Republic of Ireland Ireland 10,500[50] 14,000[50] 0[50] 24,500 5.78 14[51] 0[16] 12[16] 0
Cyprus Cyprus 10,000[52] 60,000[52] 750[52] 70,750 12.80 41[53] 12 0
Slovenia Slovenia 9,000[54] 20,000[54] 4,500[55] 33,500 1.21 54 9 12 0
Estonia Estonia 5,700[56] 220,000[57]/> 20,000[56] 245,700 4.13 0 0 0
Latvia Latvia 5,500[58] 14,050[58] 3,200[58] 22,750 2.13 3 0 3[59] 0
Malta Malta 2,140[60] 0[60] 0[60] 2,140 5.37 0 0 0
Luxembourg Luxembourg 900[61] 0[61] 612[61] 1,512 1.92 0 0 3 0
  • Approximate Figures
  • Source of active duty information: Center for Strategic and International Studies 2006 and Jaffa Center of Strategic Studies
  • Source of population information: List of countries by population

See also

References

  1. ^ Italy's Foreign Minister says post-Lisbon EU needs a European Army, The Times. 2009-11-15
  2. ^ Merkel's European Army: More Than a Paper Tiger? by Peter C. Glover, World Politics Review, 2007-04-25.
  3. ^ EU military at Bastille Day celebration
  4. ^ Solana raises prospect of EU soldiers in Georgia EU Observer
  5. ^ Rettman, Andrew (3 September 2009) European defence league poised for debate on dormant pact, EU Observer accessed 3 September 2009
  6. ^ "Treaty of Lisbon". EU.
  7. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/4689736/Blueprint-for-EU-army-to-be-agreed.html
  8. ^ "European - United States Defence Expenditure in 2005". EDA. 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
  9. ^ III.pdf "Annuaire statistique de la Défense, p.47" (PDF). December 2006. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  10. ^ "French Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 112)" (PDF). 2006-09-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "French Paramilitary Forces, Tiscali Encyclopedia". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ a b French Military Aviation
  13. ^ "German Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 32)" (PDF). 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "German Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 117)" (PDF). 2006-09-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "German Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 14)" (PDF). 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, Aviation Week & Space Technology, 15 January 2007.
  17. ^ a b "Italian Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 124)" (PDF). 2006-09-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "Italian Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 16)" (PDF). 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ a b c "British Armed Forces, UK MoD (Page 59)" (PDF). 2006-09-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ a b British Military Aviation
  21. ^ a b "Spanish Military". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ "Spanish Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT" (PDF). 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ a b c "Greek Military". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ a b Greek Aircraft Inventory
  25. ^ a b c "Polish Military". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ Polish Defence Ministry
  27. ^ a b c "Romanian Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Romania" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  28. ^ a b "Czech Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 109)" (PDF). 2006-09-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ "Czech Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 11)" (PDF). 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. ^ Czech Republic Equipment
  31. ^ a b "Dutch Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 127)" (PDF). 2006-09-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ "Uzbek Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  33. ^ a b c "Bulgarian Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Bulgaria" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  34. ^ a b c "Belgium Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  35. ^ a b "Portuguese Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  36. ^ "Portuguese's Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 25)" (PDF). 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  37. ^ a b "Finnish Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  38. ^ "Finland's Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 15)" (PDF). 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  39. ^ a b "Austrian Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  40. ^ a b "Swedish Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  41. ^ "Bantat hemvärn får massiv kritik". 2008-05-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  42. ^ a b "Hungarian Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 120)" (PDF). 2006-09-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  43. ^ "Hungarian Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 15)" (PDF). 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  44. ^ a b "Slovak Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Slovakia" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  45. ^ "Slovakia Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 22)" (PDF). 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  46. ^ a b c "Danish Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  47. ^ Financial report for the Danish Military
  48. ^ a b c "Lithuanian Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  49. ^ a b Lithuanian Air Force
  50. ^ a b c "Ireland Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  51. ^ [1]
  52. ^ a b c "Cyprus Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  53. ^ JED Site
  54. ^ a b "Slovenia Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  55. ^ "Slovenia's Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 22)" (PDF). 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  56. ^ a b "Estonia Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  57. ^ [http://www.kmin.ee/static/sisu/files/Aruanne2008.pdf Aruanne riigikaitsest osavõtu kohustuse ja kaitseväeteenistuskohustuse täitmise kohta riigis 2008. aastal]
  58. ^ a b c "Latvia Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  59. ^ Latvian Air Force
  60. ^ a b c "Malta Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  61. ^ a b c "Luxembourg Armed Forces". 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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