Military of the European Union

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Military of the European Union
Coat of arms of the European Union Military Staff.svg
The coat of arms of the EU military staff
Service branches EUMS
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief 27 EU heads of state
High Representative Catherine Ashton
Director General of EUMS Lt.Gen. Ton van Osch[1]
Manpower
Military age 17–45
Active personnel 1,695,122
Reserve personnel 2,614,491
755,034 paramilitary
Expenditures
Budget $299.7 billion [2010]
Percent of GDP 1.63% [2010]

The military of the European Union today comprises the several national armed forces of the Union's 27 member states, as the policy area of defence has remained primarily the domain of nation states. European integration has however been deepened in this field in recent years, with the framing of a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) branch for the Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) as well as the creation of separate international forces revolving around the EU's defence. A number of CSDP military operations have been deployed in recent years.

Several prominent leaders, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, have voiced support for a common defence for the Union.[2][3][4] This possibility, requiring unanimous support among the member states, was formally laid down in Article 42 of the Treaty on European Union upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009.[5]

Additionally, the Treaty of Lisbon extended the enhanced co-operation provision to become available for application in the area of defence. This mechanism enables a minimum number of member states to deepen integration within the EUs institutional framework, without the necessity of participation for reluctant member states. The Polish government has announced its intention of examining the possibility of applying this provision in the area of defence during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2011.[6] This move has as of December 2010 been publicly supported by several national governments.[7]

Contents

[edit] History

Map showing European membership of the EU and NATO
  EU member only
  NATO member only
  member of both

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. The 1948 Treaty of Brussels established the military Western Union Defence Organization with an allied European command structure under Field Marshal Montgomery. Western European powers, except for Ireland, Sweden, Finland and Austria, signed the North Atlantic Treaty alongside the United States and Canada which only created a passive defence association until 1951 when, during the Korean War, the existing and fully functioning Western Union Defence Organization was augmented to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO.

In the early 1950s, France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries made an attempt to integrate the militaries of mainland Western Europe, through the treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC). 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.

The failure to establish the EDC resulted in the 1954 amendment of the Treaty of Brussels at the London and Paris Conferences which in replacement of EDC established the political Western European Union (WEU) out of the earlier established military Western Union Defence Organization and included West Germany and Italy in both WEU and NATO as the conference ended the occupation of West Germany and the defence aims had shifted from Germany to the Soviet Union.

Out of the 27 EU member states, 21 are also members of NATO. Another 3 NATO members are EU Applicants and 1 is solely a member of the European Economic Area. In 1996, the Western European Union (WEU) was tasked by NATO to implement a European Security and Defence Identity within NATO, which later was passed over to the EU Common Security and Defence Policy as all Western European Union functions were transferred to the European Union through the Lisbon Treaty. The memberships of the EU and NATO are distinct, and some EU member states are traditionally 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.

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".[8]

[edit] Implications of the Treaty of Lisbon

The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon triggered member states of the Western European Union (WEU) to scrap the organisation, which had largely become dormant, but they have kept the mutual defence clause of the Treaty of Brussels as a basis for a possible EU mutual defence arrangement.

The Treaty of Lisbon also states 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 42)[9] ”


[edit] Militaries of Member States

France (blue) and the United Kingdom (red).

[edit] France and the United Kingdom

France and the United Kingdom represent the EU's two most dominant global military powers and are the only nuclear powers in the EU. Together, France and the United Kingdom account for 40% of Europe's defence budget, 50% of its military capacity and 70% of all spending in military research and development.[10] The 2010 Anglo French defence treaty will "pool resources" of these two nations' armed forces to maintain their status as major "global defence powers". France and the United Kingdom will also work jointly with nuclear weapons, "testing will be carried out in France and the technology will be developed in the UK."[11]

[edit] Defence spending

The combined defence budgets of the 27 EU member states in 2010 amounted to $299.7 billion.[12] This represents 1.63% of European Union GDP, second only to the US military's $698.1 billion 2010 defence budget, which represents 4.5% of United States GDP. The EU figures include the spending for joint projects such as the Eurofighter and joint procurement of equipment.

British and French military expenditure for 2010 published in the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Yearbook 2011 using current market exchange rates in current (2010) US dollars.[13][14]

Rank Country Defence budget (2010) Share of 2010 GDP World Share
1 United Kingdom United Kingdom $59,600,000,000 2.7% 3.7%
2 France France $59,300,000,000 2.3% 3.6%
The hypothetically combined EU military
budget compared to other military powers in 2010
Figures sourced from SIPRI and EDA.

This list in contrast to the list above is based on the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Military Expenditure Database for 2010 (in constant 2009 US$).

Country Defence budget (2010)[15]  % of GDP
European Union European Union $299,768,000,000 1.63%
France France $61,285,000,000 2.32%
United Kingdom United Kingdom $57,424,000,000 2.32%
Germany Germany $46,848,000,000 1.27%
Italy Italy $38,303,000,000 1.44%
Spain Spain $25,507,000,000 1.16%
Netherlands Netherlands $11,604,000,000 1.43%
Poland Poland $10,800,000,000 1.66%
Greece Greece $10,398,000,000 3.3%
Sweden Sweden $5,500,000,000 1.23%
Belgium Belgium $4,440,000,000 1.24%
Denmark Denmark $4,330,000,000 1.32%
Finland Finland $4,051,000,000 1.32%
Austria Austria $3,650,000,000 0.94%
Portugal Portugal $3,825,000,000 1.53%
Czech Republic Czech Republic $2,529,000,000 1.44%
Romania Romania $2,164,000,000 1.24%
Republic of Ireland Ireland $1,354,000,000 0.58%
Hungary Hungary $1,323,000,000 1.22%
Slovakia Slovakia $1,010,000,000 1.53%
Slovenia Slovenia $788,000,000 1.48%
Bulgaria Bulgaria $698,000,000 2.34%
Cyprus Cyprus $550,000,000 1.78%
Lithuania Lithuania $427,000,000 1.12%
Estonia Estonia $336,000,000 1.85%
Luxembourg Luxembourg $301,000,000 0.53%
Latvia Latvia $268,000,000 1.60%
Malta Malta $51,600,000 0.50%

[edit] Active military forces

[edit] European military personnel

The European Union's combined active military forces in 2009 totaled 1,668,537 personnel. As of 2009, The 26 European Defence Agency member states had an average of 67,767 land force personnel deployed around the world. In a major operation the EU could readily deploy 443,103 land force personnel and of those can sustain 106,754 in an enduring operation.[16]

Denmark is not an EDA member, but is a member state of the European Union, thus bringing the total manpower of the combined EU military to 1,695,122 personnel.

Figures for the EU's reserve personnel and paramilitary forces are provided by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (a British research institute). Figures are provided for the year 2010.

A chart showing the the combined strength
of the EU's active duty personnel compared
to other military powers. EU figures sourced
from the EDA. (Note: 100 = 1 million)
Country Active military personnel Reserve personnel Paramilitary Total military personnel
European Union European
Union		 1,695,122 2,614,491 755,034 5,064,647
France France[16][17][18][19] 243,000 70,300 151,779 465,079
United Kingdom United Kingdom[20][21] 227,160 174,800 401,960
Germany Germany[22][23] 205,145 200,812 405,957
Italy Italy[16][24] 192,168 41,867 244,273 478,308
Spain Spain[16][25] 136,000 319,000 80,210 535,210
Greece Greece[16][26][27] 133,385 237,500 4,000 374,885
Poland Poland[16][28] 98,840 10,000 28,100 136,940
Romania Romania[16][29][30] 74,790 45,000 79,900 199,690
Netherlands Netherlands[16][31] 48,639 3,339 3,000 54,978
Portugal Portugal[16][32] 39,568 210,900 47,700 298,168
Belgium Belgium[16][33] 35,720 2,040 37,760
Finland Finland[16][34] 35,328 351,500 7,550 394,378
Bulgaria Bulgaria[16][35] 32,445 302,500 34,000 368,945
Austria Austria[16][36] 28,065 195,000 9,400 232,465
Czech Republic Czech Republic[16][37] 24,418 10,998 35,416
Denmark Denmark[38] 26,585 53,507 80,092
Hungary Hungary[16][39] 21,060 44,000 12,000 77,060
Sweden Sweden[16][40] 16,958 242,000 800 259,758
Slovakia Slovakia[16][41] 14,413 14,413
Cyprus Cyprus[16][42] 12,937 50,000 750 63,687
Republic of Ireland Ireland[16][43] 9,950 14,500 24,450
Lithuania Lithuania[16][44] 8,108 6,700 14,600 29,408
Slovenia Slovenia[16][45] 6,964 3,800 4,500 15,264
Latvia Latvia[16][46] 4,937 10,866 10,096 25,899
Estonia Estonia[16][47] 6,600 42,000 10,766 59,300
Malta Malta[16] 2,120 2,120
Luxembourg Luxembourg[16][48] 882 612 1,494

[edit] European Air Forces

A RAF Typhoon F2, an example of European defence cooperation.

The Air Forces of Europe operate a wide range of military systems and hardware, primarily due to the independent requirements of each member state and also the national defence industries of some member states. However such programs like the Eurofighter Typhoon have seen many European nation design, build and operate a single weapons platform. In 2010 it is estimated that the European Union has over 2,150 serviceable combat aircraft, of which around 1,400 were fighter aircraft and 750 were ground-attack aircraft.[49] This compares well with the United States Air Force which had a total of around 2,132 fighter aircraft in 2010, however as a unified air force the USAF operates only three fighter aircraft types, such as the F-16, F-15 and F-22, therefore increasing efficiency.

The Air Forces of Europe operate many fighter aircraft types, mainly composed of large fleets of F-16s, Panavia Tornados, Eurofighter Typhoons, Dassault Mirage 2000s, Saab JAS 39 Gripens and Dassault Rafales. In addition many airforces operate smaller fleets of F-18s, Mikoyan MiG-29s and Sukhoi Su-22s.

The EUs air-lift capabilities are evolving with the future introduction of the Airbus A400M (another example of EU defence cooperation). The A400M is a tactical airlifter with strategic capabilities.[50] Around 140 are initially expected to be operated by 5 member states (UK, France, Germany, Spain and Belgium).

[edit] European Land Forces

The two most capable European land forces belong to the United Kingdom and France which are regarded as Europes leading military powers.[51]

A chart showing the combined strength
of the EU's Destroyer and Frigate forces
compared to other military powers.

[edit] European Naval Forces

The European Union's combined naval force consists of over 600 commissioned warships, this number does not include auxiliary, survey or support ships.

The EU possesses 6 aircraft carriers, (the largest of which is the 40,000 ton Charles de Gaulle) and a large number of amphibious assault ships. This gives the EU significant power projection capabilities. The United Kingdom is currently building 2 (65,000 ton) Queen Elizabeth class supercarriers.

Of the EU's 62 submarines, 21 are Nuclear submarines (11 UK and 10 French) while 41 are conventional attack submarines.

Many European Navies do not classify destroyer sized vessels as destroyers, and instead classify them as frigates regardless of size and role. This would explain the relatively large difference between the number of destroyers and frigates in service.

Country Submarines Destroyers Frigates Corvettes Aircraft
carriers		 Amphibious
warfare
ships		 Guided
missile
boats		 Mine
warfare
vessels		 Patrol
&
Gunboats
European Union European Union 62 19 92[N 1] 58 6 18 61 159 166
United Kingdom United Kingdom[52] 11 6 13 1[N 2] 7 15 24
France France[53] 10 12[N 3] 9 1 4 11 17
Germany Germany[54] 6 15 5 10 20
Italy Italy[55] 6 4 8[N 4] 8 2 3 12 14
Spain Spain[56] 4 5 6 5 2 2 4 6 19
Greece Greece[57] 8 14 17 9 16
Poland Poland[58] 5 2 3 4 19
Romania Romania[59] 3 7 6 5 8
Netherlands Netherlands[60] 4 4 2 2 10
Portugal Portugal[61] 2 5 7 22
Belgium Belgium[62] 2 6 1
Finland Finland 8 19 2
Bulgaria Bulgaria 1 4 3 3 5
Denmark Denmark[63] 6 5 6
Sweden Sweden[64] 5 11 11 13
Republic of Ireland Ireland[65] 8
Lithuania Lithuania[66] 4 4
Slovenia Slovenia[67] 2
Latvia Latvia 4 4
Estonia Estonia 1 3 2
Malta Malta[68] 8

[edit] Forces and frameworks

[edit] Common Security and Defence Policy

Main article: Common Security and Defence Policy

The defence arrangements which have been established under the EU institutions are part of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), a branch of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). It should be noted that Denmark has an opt-out from the CSDP.

[edit] Deployments

Main article: CSDP missions

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. In 2007, the then European High Representative for Foreign Policy, Javier Solana indicated the EU could send troops to Georgia, perhaps alongside Russian forces.[69]

[edit] Separate initiatives

Separate initiatives by Member States that revolve around the defence of the European Union in some way or another, or acting as a European standing army.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Notes
  1. ^ Includes destroyer type vessels, also see notes on French and Italian frigates.
  2. ^ The British aircraft carrier no longer has any fixed-wing combat aircraft.
  3. ^ 11 French frigates are not included as they are in fact light frigates with a displacement of 3,000 tonnes or less, and therefore not full frigates.
  4. ^ 4 Italian frigates are not included as they are in fact light frigates with a displacement of 2,500 tonnes or less, and therefore not full frigates.
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References
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