EU Military Plans Face British Opposition

German and French plans to push ahead with an independent European military force for deployment in international conflict situations are facing stiff opposition from Britain, which fears that the proposed force could undermine NATO.

British officials are expected to seek a block on attempts by Germany and France to accelerate the process when European Union officials convene in Rome on Friday for talks. According to a report in the British broadsheet The Guardian, officials from the UK will tell their EU colleagues that any planning for European military operations must be carried out strictly under the auspices of the Atlantic alliance.

There have already been calls from Paris, echoed by some voices within Brussels, for the European Union to co-ordinate and mount its own military operations through a "European military force." Belgium and Luxembourg are also in favor of the force and join Germany and France in the so-called "gang of four" -- the name given to the EU countries that opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq by pro-NATO critics of the plan.

EU force could anger the US

On the surface, Britain agrees that the EU should be able to plan its own operations, but only from NATO’s headquarters near Mons in Belgium. However, British officials are warning their EU counterparts that the Franco-German initiative will antagonize the United States and create unnecessary duplication between the EU and NATO.

Many detractors see the idea of forming an EU force as an empty gesture after the divisions of the Iraq crisis and some, Britain in particular, are angry that it is still being pursued.

Ironically, the idea of EU defense was pioneered by Britain and France after the end of the Kosovo war in 1999, a conflict which showed in glaring detail the huge gap between Europe and the United States in terms of military might.

Current peacekeeping duties would increase

Since then, the EU has succeeded in creating new institutions and procedures and has deployed troops in peacekeeping missions in Macedonia and Congo. Plans to create a 60,000-strong rapid reaction force are also under way. But anything larger will meet stiff resistance from British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government.

Defense is one of the most controversial items in the EU's draft constitution, which is due to be finalized in negotiations between all 15 member states starting in October. If Blair continues to oppose the formation of the force, he can count on the support of other NATO loyalists such as the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Denmark as well as neutral or non-aligned states. With considerable disagreement about how to mould a common EU defense policy, the timing is far from optimal for planning such a force.

Compromise could make things worse

Any compromise is unlikely to break the deadlock completely. Sources quoted in The Guardian report suggest that the French may agree on the British proposal for a "dedicated EU planning cell" without the military force to back it up but will give up any of their own ambitions to form an army to carry out the cell’s operations.

The result could be an even worse situation where an EU “Trojan horse” operates within NATO while the EU expands and duplicates its own military structures outside it, some critics have warned.