Powell leads US attack on Gang of Four defence plan for Europe

Date: 30/04/03

By Dana Spinant

PLANS to develop a European defence policy outside NATO are not a "putsch" against the Alliance or the US, the leaders of France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg insisted after their controversial mini-summit in Brussels yesterday (29 April).

US diplomats led by Colin Powell, however, were strongly critical of the blueprint presented by the 'Gang of Four' which opposed the US-led war in Iraq. Although it is being sold as "pro-European", they said it would also be seen as "anti-American".

"It crosses some NATO red lines," a US diplomat told this paper. "We always said 'no duplication' [of NATO and EU military assets]. In a number of areas, there is a real effort at duplication," he said.

"It introduces a 'fortress Europe' mentality."

Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, led criticism of the mini-summit in Congress. "What we need is not more headquarters. What we need is more capability," he said.

NATO spokesman Yves Brodeur echoed that, adding: "We are concerned about how extra capabilities will be delivered without extra resources, as I see no money in there."

However, the four countries' initiative is set to enjoy popular support. A special opinion poll commissioned by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, chairman of the Convention on the future of the EU, shows that 71 of Union citizens back a European defence policy. As part of a seven-point plan, the Gang of Four pledged to create a multinational headquarters next year for European missions where NATO is not involved and to set up a "nucleus of a collective operational planning and command".

The proposals, which had been watered down from initial ideas suggested by Belgian premier Guy Verhofstadt, also include setting up a European command for strategic air transport by June 2004 at the latest, as well as joint training centres for crews operating the future A400M military transport plane and helicopter pilots.

French President Jacques Chirac insisted the initiative was not designed to rival NATO. "The aim is not to decouple European Union and Atlantic Alliance defence efforts. This contribution should enable European defence to make a quantitative leap forward," he said.

However, some claim the initiative will be stillborn if the UK is not on board. "People should stop playing games on defence and get real. Everybody knows that a defence policy worth its name must include the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy," said Peter Hain, the British minister on the EU Convention.

General Philippe Morillon, the French MEP who drafted a report on defence for the Parliament, welcomed the move, but expressed concerns that the four countries could be seen as an exclusive club. "Nobody should have been excluded," he said.

A US defence industry spokesman dismissed the mini-summit, declaring: "It is not significant at all from the industry point of view, not even from the political point of view. Among the four, there are two countries [Belgium and Luxembourg] that spend nothing on defence," he added.

The European defence industry hopes the initiative will rejuvenate the cash-strapped sector. "There is an implicit incentive to spend more money to achieve the capabilities referred to," said Michel Troubetzkoy, of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company. "We hope that the maximum of EU and future states will back it."

The summit proposals were discussed last night by the EU's political and security committee, and are set to be the subject of further talks at the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Rhodes on Friday (2 May).

Plans to develop a European defence policy outside NATO are not a 'putsch' against the Alliance or the US, the leaders of France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg insisted after their controversial mini-summit in Brussels on 29 April 2003.