European Parliament calls for a stronger European Security and Defence Architecture, April 2003

As Member States from across the European Union seek to rebuild the Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy, severely weakened by the different positions of European governments on the crisis in Iraq, the European Parliament have emphasised the need for a stronger European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).

On 10 April 2003, MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution calling for a new European Security and Defence Architecture based on an own-initiative report prepared by Philippe Morillon, a French MEP and retired general. The report outlines a number of priorities that must be acted upon if the European Union wishes to become a credible actor on the international stage, capable of being a free partner of the United States and prepared to share the burden of defence.

Background

Whilst the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community may have been negotiated in 1952, four decades were to elapse before defence was to be mentioned again in a European treaty, this time in the Maastricht Treaty, which was signed in February 1992.

The Maastricht Treaty established the Common Foreign and Security Policy, which according to the Treaty, shall include "the eventual framing of a common defence policy, which might in time lead to a common defence". This was followed by the Treaty of Amsterdam, negotiated in 1997, which once again referred cautiously to the prospect of a common defence.

The decisive political progress towards a stronger European defence policy came at the Franco-British summit in St. Malo in December 1998 when the heads of state of both countries issued a joint statement calling on the European Council to "decide on the progressive framing of a common defence policy in the framework of CFSP". The statement also called for the Union to have "the capacity for autonomous action, backed up by credible military forces".

The political momentum, established at St.Malo, was maintained at subsequent European Council meetings when decisions were taken to establish an EU rapid reaction force capable of carrying out the Petersburg Tasks. A number of headline goals were also agreed at the Helsinki European Council in December 1999, namely the ability to deploy a force of 60,000 troops within 60 days as of 2003 and to be able to keep the troops in the field for at least one year.

After specific decision-taking bodies were established at the Nice European Council in December 2000 and the ESDP's operational capabilities were agreed at the Laeken European Council in December 2001, all the measures had been put in place to enable the EU to carry out crisis management operations. The first of these took place in Bosnia-Herzegovina in January 2003 when an EU police mission took over from the United Nations there. The first deployment of a military force, Eufor, took place in Macedonia on 31 March 2003 when the EU took over the role of NATO forces deployed there.

However, despite these recent successes the Iraq crisis highlighted that the EU is still a long way from being able to speak of a "common defence policy" and the political momentum, so strong in St. Malo, appears to need reinvigoration.

A New European Security and Defence Architecture

It is in this context that the European Parliament voted to adopt a resolution on 10 April 2003 calling for a new EU-wide security and defence architecture. The resolution is based on an own-initiative report prepared for the Assembly by Christian Democrat MEP Philippe Morillon, a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy.

The report by Mr. Morillon, who previously worked as a Commander of UN forces in Bosnia, outlines the priorities and deficiencies in a possible new European defence architecture and reviews Europe's recent progress in this area as well as noting the varied security challenges facing the EU following the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001.

Specifically, it outlines four key areas where action is needed to strengthen Europe's security and defence policy:

• The EU's capabilities
• The effectiveness of the EU's decision-making
• The effectiveness of the EU's operational capacity
• The credibility of the EU on the international stage

The report was adopted by the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs committee by thirty three votes to fifteen on 25 March 2003.

The European Parliament's resolution on a new European security and defence architecture aims to strengthen the EU's position on the international stage. It specifically expresses regret at the differences between Member States on the Iraq crisis and the damage that this has caused to the EU's reputation saying:

"The current split between Member States in relation to crucial foreign policy matters will have serious consequences for the common foreign and security policy. Only if the Union pursues a single line and speaks with one strong and clear voice will it be considered as a serious international actor".

Looking to a stronger common defence policy in the future, the Parliament's resolution proposes a number of specific actions in different areas:

Military Operations

• By 2004, the EU should have a 5000 strong force kept in a state of permanent readiness for humanitarian and rescue operations.
• By 2009 this force should be capable of carrying out operations autonomously
• A "solidarity clause" (i.e. a collective defence clause) should be introduced into the Treaty to enable Member States to mobilise all the necessary military and civilian instruments to combat terrorism
• The common costs of military operations under the ESDP should be provided for in the Community budget

Institutional Matters

• The functions of the High Representative and Commissioner for External Affairs should be combined in a 'European External Representative', a Member of the Commission, supported by a single Commission administration, the staff of which might partly be recruited from existing resources within the WEU
• The "External Representative" would have the right of initiative in crisis management matters
• An Armaments and Research Agency should be set up
• A European Institute of Advanced Defence Studies should be established to encourage the emergence of a common defence culture
• A Council of Defence Ministers should be established, which would consult the European Parliament on any crisis management operation
• A common EU police force and coastguard to protect the Union's external borders

EU in the International Arena

• A Security Strategy of the European Union should be developed in response to the US National Security Strategy. The strategy would define the Union's values and interests in the field of worldwide stability promotion, conflict prevention and crisis management, and would describe the Union's approach to make the world safer. The strategy is viewed as a useful tool in improving EU-US relations based on common interests
• The implementation of humanitarian aid operations in third countries should be entrusted only to specialist international organisations and to non-governmental humanitarian organisations

EU officials, from bodies other than the Parliament, have welcomed the resolution. The representative of the Greek EU Presidency called the report "a source of inspiration" and Chris Patten, European Commissioner for External Relations said it was "almost painfully timely". Reinforcing the Parliament's efforts to strengthen the EU's defence policy, he added:

"It raises a number of issues which will go right to the heart of our credibility in Europe as we seek to make a greater contribution to international affairs in the years ahead; but, as I have said on previous occasions in this Chamber, there comes a moment in politics where one is obliged to put one's money where one's mouth is. We have long since passed that stage when we are talking about security issues".

What future for the European Security and Defence Policy?

The European Parliament's resolution comes ahead of discussions in the European Convention on the future of the European Security and Defence Policy and before a meeting of a select group of Member States on 29 April 2003 , branded as a "mini-defence summit". The Belgian government organised the meeting with the aim of extending the principle of 'enhanced co-operation' to defence, where some of the fifteen Member States could form their own 'coalition of the willing' in any military or humanitarian operations. Representatives from Germany, France, and Italy are all expected to attend.

All three initiatives are indicative of a renewed political momentum to strengthen the EU's Security and Defence Policy. Whilst Iraq may have highlighted the weaknesses in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy it could, as many commentators have suggested, have provided the necessary incentive to develop a stronger common foreign and defence policy in the future.

Further information within European Sources Online:

European Sources Online: Topic Guides
	Defence in Europe
	The European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy
European Sources Online: In Focus
	Belgium pushes for "enhanced co-operation" in field of defence
	Europe's defence equipment industry, March 2003
	What future for the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy after the Iraq crisis?, March 2003
European Sources Online: European Voice
European Sources Online: Financial Times
	22.04.02:	A future for European defence
	30.11.02:	EU's big three struggle to agree on defence
	03.12.02:	Europe should call off its mission impossible
	04.12.02:	European Convention mulls collective strategy
	09.12.02:	UK set to spurn plan for EU defence procurement
	03.02.03:	European defence force plan
	27.03.03:	Divisive tactics in building EU defence
Further information can be seen in these external links: (long-term access cannot be guaranteed)
EU Institutions
European Commission
DG External Relations
	EU Security Policy and the role of the European Commission
	ESDP Chronology
Council of the European Union
	Common Foreign and Security Policy
	EU Police Mission in Bosnia Herzegovina
	EU Military Operation in Former Yugoslav Republic in Macedonia
European Parliament
	Factsheets: Foreign policy: aims, instruments and achievements
	Background notes: The new European security and defence architecture
The EU Representation in the United States of America
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National Organisations
Belgium: The Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation
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Miscellaneous Organisations
The Centre for European Policy Studies
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	European Security and Defence Policy: Taking Stock [September 2002]
	Enhancing the Effectiveness of the EU's Foreign and Defence Policies [December 2002]
The European Policy Centre
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	Security, defence and Europe's big three [March 2003]
	After Nice: the prospects for security and defence [March 2001]
	Europe in the world: growing up at last? [October 2000]
	Security and Defence Policy: the European Parliament dimension
News Organisations
BBC News Online
	03.02.02:	Europe urged to boost defence
	03.04.03:	Schröder sees powerful EU

Helen Bower

21 April 2003

The European Parliament have emphasised the need for a stronger European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) in an own-initiative report adopted on 10 April 2003.