Military of the European Union

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European Union
This article is part of the series: Common Foreign and Security Policy
Leaders
European Council CFSP High Rep. (Solana)
Sub-policies
Security and Defence Policy Defence Initiative Defence Procurement Petersberg tasks Helsinki Headline Goal
Bodies
Political and Security Committee Military Committee Military Staff Operations Centre Security & Defence College Defence Agency Institute for Security Studies Satellite Centre
Military forces
Eurofor Battlegroup Gendarmerie Eurocorps Deployments
v • d • e

At present, there is no military of the European Union, as the European integration has not developed very far in the area of defence. There have however been a number of defence initiatives, peacekeeping operations and organisations established in the context of the European Union (EU). The actual defence of the Union is the domain of individual Member States. Currently, closest to what can be called European Union military, is the rapid deployment force called European Union Battlegroups.

An early attempt to integrate the militaries of Western Europe, was the failed 1952 European Defence Community. But since then many politicians, including Guy Verhofstadt, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, promised to create a European military. As 24 of the 27 EU member states are also members of NATO, some EU states cooperate on defense 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.

Contents 1 Cooperation 2 Recent developments 3 Deployment 4 Military forces and groups 5 Actors, agencies and policies 6 Member States' military spending 7 Size of European militaries 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Cooperation

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.^[1] However the cumulative effect is much less than it seems due to duplication of capacities in individual militaries.^{[citations needed]} There have been efforts to overcome this with joint projects such as the Eurofighter and through joint procurement of equipment.

For example:

1) There are several European tank versions (e.g. Leclerc, Leopard 2, AMX-30, Challenger 2, Ariete-C1,Centauro,PT-91, T-72CZ), but the US military uses only one tank version.

2) There are several European IFV versions (e.g. AMX-10P, ASCOD AFV, Puma, Puma (AFV), CV90, Dardo IFV, Warrior tracked armoured vehicle), but the US military uses only one IFV version.

[edit] Recent developments

The new Treaty of Lisbon will merge a number of elements of the Western European Union (WEU) into the European Union, but not completely disestablish the WEU. It also says that:

'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) ^[2]

British ministers initially objected to this clause. They wrote 'We believe that the European Council will not make that decision anytime soon. It is therefore inappropriate for the Treaty to pre-judge the decision of the European Council.' However, British ministers later gave way.

On 23 March 2007, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country held the EU presidency at that time, gave an interview in celebration of the EU's fiftieth birthday, in which she expressed the desire for a unified EU army.^[3]

On 14 July 2007 French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called on the EU to create a unified military; soldiers from all 27 EU countries marched through the Champs-Élysées as part of that year's Bastille Day celebrations on the invitation of Sarkozy.^[4]

On 20 Feb 2009 the European Parliament voted yes to create 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".^[5]

[edit] Deployment

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.^[6]

See pages of individual forces below for details or Overseas interventions of the European Union.

[edit] Military forces and groups

• European Union Battlegroups (closest thing to an EU military, composed of 15 battlegroups, each one numbering 1,500 troops. Under direct control of European Council.)
• European Union Force - the title used for EU peacekeeping deployments, which have included Bosnia/Hercegovina, Chad/CAR, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Eurocorps (independent military force composed of 60,000 troops that can be deployed for various missions)
• Eurofor (rapid reaction force under command of the Western European Union)
• European Gendarmerie Force (crisis intervention force composed of 900 personnel, with 2,300 additional personnel that can be deployed as reinforcements)
• Helsinki Headline Goal (listing of rapid reaction forces composed of 60,000 troops managed by the European Union, but under control of the countries who deliver troops for it)
• European Union Military Staff (supervises military operations carried out by the EU; its chief is General Henri Bentegeat, a former chief of the French Defence Staff)

[edit] Actors, agencies and policies

• Common Foreign and Security Policy
• European Council
• European Defence Agency
• European Security and Defence Identity
• European Security and Defence Policy
• European Union Institute for Security Studies
• North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
• Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
• Western European Union

[edit] Member States' military spending

US$ billion

The hypothetically combined EU military budget compared to foreign military powers.

	Country	Defence Budget (USD)	Military expenditures as % of GDP	Date of % information
	France	61,571,330,000	2.6	2005 est
	UK	61,280,890,000	2.4	2005 est
	Germany	45,930,000,000	1.5	2005 est
	Italy	40,060,000,000	1.8	2005 est
	Spain	15,792,207,000	1.2	2005 est
	Netherlands	12,000,000,000	1.6	2005 est
	Poland	11,791,000,000	1.71	2005 est
	Greece	7,648,561,000	4.3	2005 est
	Sweden	6,309,137,714	1.5	2005 est
	Belgium	4,000,000,000	1.3	2005 est
	Portugal	3,497,800,000	2.3	2005 est
	Denmark	3,271,600,000	1.5	?
	Romania	2,900,000,000	1.9	2007 est
	Finland	2,800,000,000	2	2005 est
	Austria	2,334,900,000	0.9	2005 est
	Czech Republic	2,170,000,000	1.46	2007 est
	Slovakia	1,408,000,000	1.87	2005 est
	Hungary	1,376,000,000	1.75	2005 est
	Bulgaria	1,339,000,000	2.6	2005 est
	Ireland	1,300,000,000	0.9	2005 est
	Latvia	672,356,045	1.2	2005 est
	Lithuania	490,800,000	1.2	?
	Estonia	487,049,967	2	2005 est
	Cyprus	384,000,000	3.8	2005 est
	Slovenia	370,000,000	1.7	2005 est
	Luxembourg	231,600,000	0.9	2005 est
	Malta	44,640,000	0.7	2006 est
EU combined		312,259,000,000	0.7-4.3	2005-2007 est

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

[edit] Size of European militaries

This is a list of European Union/EFTA/Candidate countries sorted by the total number of active troops where the military manpower of a country is measured by the total amount of active troops within the command of that country. Reserved forces which can aid a depleted active military and/or paramilitary are also listed to illustrate a country's total manpower.

Rank		Nation	Status	Active Service Personnel	Reserve Force	Paramilitary	Total	Active troops/ 1000 citizens	Tanks	Combat aircraft	Transport aircraft
1		France	EU member	259,050[7]	419,000 [8]	101,400 [9]	779,450	4.27	1021	482[10]	147[10]
2		Germany	EU member	210,500[11]	302,500[12]	45,050[13]	558,000	3.45	1874	371[14]	176[14]
3		Italy	EU member	240,000[15]	68,000 [15]	238,800[16]	546,800	3.42	1180	460[14]	176[14]
4		United Kingdom	EU member	206,480[17]	233,880[17]	0[17]	440,360	3.41	1175	562[18]	197[18]
5		Spain	EU member	177,950[19]	328,500[19]	72,600[20]	579,050	3.49	661	267[14]	110[14]
6		Greece	EU member	177,600[21]	291,000[21]	4,000[21]	472,600	16.60	1000	254[22]	35[22]
7		Ukraine	Potential EU candidate	149,000	1,000,000	0	1,149,000	3.08	786	405	164
8		Poland	EU member	125,000[23]	234,000[23]	21,300[23]	418,300	4.23	1005	251[24]	87
9		Romania	EU member	75,000[25]	0[25]	79,900[25]	173,519	4.31	340	71	70
10		Serbia	Potential EU candidate	74,500[26]	400,000[26]	40,000[26]	514,500	41	277	85	68
11		Czech Republic	EU member	57,050[27]	0[27]	5,600[28]	62,650	5.57	179[29]	52[14]	71[14]
12		Netherlands	EU member	53,130[30]	32,200[30]	3,300[31]	88,630	3.24	119	115[14]	43[14]
14		Bulgaria	EU member	51,000[32]	303,000[32]	34,000[32]	385,450	7.85	590	80[14]	46[14]
15		Belgium	EU member	45,800[33]	100,500[33]	0[33]	146,300	3.94	132	68[14]	37[14]
16		Portugal	EU member	44,900[34]	210,930[34]	25,600[35]	281,430	4.25	137	45	33
17		Finland	EU member	36,700[36]	485,000[36]	3,100[37]	524,800	5.17	124	63
18		Austria	EU member	34,600[38]	72,000[38]	N/A	106,600	4.23	237	16	3
19		Sweden	EU member	33,900[39]	262,000[39]	35,000[40]	295,900	3.07	280	166[14]	41[14]
20		Hungary	EU member	33,400[41]	90,300[41]	12,000[42]	135,700	3.31	180	55[14]	30[14]
21		Norway	EFTA member	27,600[43]	219,000[43]	29,400	276,000	5.79	136	57[44]	26
22		Slovakia	EU member	26,200[45]	20,000[45]	4,700[46]	50,900	4.05	457	27	24
23		Denmark	EU member	22,880[47]	64,900[47]	61,500[47]	149,280	4.24	57[48]	60	15
24		Croatia	EU candidate	21,200[49]	12000[49]	0[50]	33,200	6.63	200	12	28[14]
25		Lithuania	EU member	13,510[51]	309,200[51]	14,390[51]	33,100	3.53		2[52]	24[52]
26		Switzerland	EFTA member	12,900[53]	320,600[53]	23,270[53]	347,470	47.90	556	87
27		Republic of Macedonia	EU candidate	12,850[54]	60,000[54]	7,600[54]	80,450	6.28	31[55]	10
28		Ireland	EU member	10,500[56]	14,000[56]	0[56]	24,500	5.78	14[57]	0[14]	12[14]
29		Cyprus	EU member	10,000[58]	60,000[58]	750[58]	70,750	12.80	41[59]	12
30		Slovenia	EU member	9,000[60]	20,000[60]	4,500[61]	33,500	1.21	84	9	12
31		Estonia	EU member	5,700[62]	220,000[63]/>	20,000[62]	245,700	4.13	0	0
32		Latvia	EU member	5,500[64]	14,050[64]	3,200[64]	22,750	2.13	3	0	3[65]
33		Malta	EU member	2,140[66]	0[66]	0[66]	2,140	5.37	0	0
34		Luxembourg	EU member	900[67]	0[67]	612[67]	1,512	1.92	0	0	3
35		Iceland	EFTA member	260[68]	0[68]	20,000[68]	20,260	0.86	0	0	1
	2,821,440	Total					8,426,136		17141	4006	1594

• 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

[edit] See also

• European Union Association Agreement
• Council of the European Union
• European Defence Community
• History of the European Union
• Three pillars of the European Union
• European Aeronautic Defence and Space
• BAE Systems

v • d • e Militaries of European Union member states Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• European Defence Agency - official website
• European Defence (NGO) - independent information on EU military capabilities
• A European regiment in EU battle groups: The presentation of the Eurocorps-Foreign Legion concept at the European Parliament in June 2003
• Online Resource Guide to EU Foreign Policy

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