Military of the European Union

Military of the European Union
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
Percent of GDP	1.63%

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]

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]

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]

”

Militaries of Member States

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

France and the United Kingdom

France and the United Kingdom represent the EU's two most dominant global military powers and are also Europe's only two nuclear powers. Together, France and the United Kingdom account for 45 per cent of Europe's defence budget, 50 per cent of its military capacity and 70 per cent 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]

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.

The hypothetically combined EU military budget compared to other military powers in 2010 Figures sourced from SIPRI and EDA.

	Country	Defence Budget[13] ($ Dollars)	% of GDP	Date (2010)
	European Union	$299,768,000,000	1.63%	2010
	France	$61,285,000,000	2.32%	2010
	United Kingdom	$57,424,000,000	2.32%	2010
	Germany	$46,848,000,000	1.27%	2010
	Italy	$38,303,000,000	1.44%	2010
	Spain	$25,507,000,000	1.16%	2010
	Netherlands	$11,604,000,000	1.43%	2010
	Poland	$10,800,000,000	1.66%	2010
	Greece	$10,398,000,000	3.3%	2010
	Sweden	$5,500,000,000	1.23%	2010
	Belgium	$4,440,000,000	1.24%	2010
	Denmark	$4,330,000,000	1.32%	2010
	Finland	$4,051,000,000	1.32%	2010
	Austria	$3,650,000,000	0.94%	2010
	Portugal	$3,825,000,000	1.53%	2010
	Czech Republic	$2,529,000,000	1.44%	2010
	Romania	$2,164,000,000	1.24%	2010
	Ireland	$1,354,,000,000	0.58%	2010
	Hungary	$1,323,000,000	1.22%	2010
	Slovakia	$1,010,000,000	1.53%	2010
	Slovenia	$788,000,000	1.48%	2010
	Bulgaria	$698,000,000	2.34%	2010
	Cyprus	$550,000,000	1.78%	2010
	Lithuania	$427,000,000	1.12%	2010
	Estonia	$336,000,000	1.85%	2010
	Luxembourg	$301,000,000	0.53%	2010
	Latvia	$268,000,000	1.60%	2010
	Malta	$51,600,000	0.50%	2010

Active Military Forces

Combined 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.^[14]

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	1,695,122	2,614,491	755,034	5,064,647
	Germany[14][15][16]	246,982	200,812		447,794
	France[14][17][18][19]	243,000	70,300	151,779	465,079
	United Kingdom[14][20]	197,780	212,400		410,180
	Italy[14][21]	192,168	41,867	244,273	478,308
	Spain[14][22]	136,000	319,000	80,210	535,210
	Greece[14][23][24]	133,385	237,500	4,000	374,885
	Poland[14][25]	98,840	10,000	28,100	136,940
	Romania[14][26][27]	74,790	45,000	79,900	199,690
	Netherlands[14][28]	48,639	3,339	3,000	54,978
	Portugal[14][29]	39,568	210,900	47,700	298,168
	Belgium[14][30]	35,720	2,040		37,760
	Finland[14][31]	35,328	351,500	7,550	394,378
	Bulgaria[14][32]	32,445	302,500	34,000	368,945
	Austria[14][33]	28,065	195,000	9,400	232,465
	Czech Republic[14][34]	24,418		10,998	35,416
	Denmark[35]	26,585	53,507		80,092
	Hungary[14][36]	21,060	44,000	12,000	77,060
	Sweden[14][37]	16,958	242,000	800	259,758
	Slovakia[14][38]	14,413			14,413
	Cyprus[14][39]	12,937	50,000	750	63,687
	Ireland[14][40]	9,950	14,500		24,450
	Lithuania[14][41]	8,108	6,700	14,600	29,408
	Slovenia[14][42]	6,964	3,800	4,500	15,264
	Latvia[14][43]	4,937	10,866	10,096	25,899
	Estonia[14][44]	3,002	25,000	10,766	38,768
	Malta[14]	2,120			2,120
	Luxembourg[14][45]	882		612	1,494

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

Combined 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 5 Fleet 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) Supercarriers of the Queen Elizabeth class.

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

	Country	Submarines	Destroyers	Frigates	Corvettes	Fleet carriers	Amphibious warfare ships	Guided missile boats	Mine warfare vessels	Patrol & Gunboats
	European Union	62	34	93	58	5	19	61	159	166
	France[46]	10	12	11	9	1	5		11	17
	United Kingdom[47]	11	6	13			7		15	24
	Germany[48]	6	3	12	5			10	20
	Italy[49]	6	4	12	8	2	3		12	14
	Spain[50]	4	5	6	5	2	2	4	6	19
	Greece[51]	8		14				17	9	16
	Poland[52]	5		2	3			4	19
	Romania[53]			3	7			6	5	8
	Netherlands[54]	4	4	2			2		10
	Portugal[55]	2		5	7					22
	Belgium[56]			2					6	1
	Finland							8	19	2
	Bulgaria	1		4	3			3	5
	Denmark[57]			6				5		6
	Sweden[58]	5			11				11	13
	Ireland[59]									8
	Lithuania[60]							4	4
	Slovenia[61]									2
	Latvia								4	4
	Estonia			1					3	2
	Malta[62]									8

Combined European Land and Air Forces

According to figures available from the United Kingdoms Defence Analytical Services Agency (DASA), the European Union has holdings of up to 9,959 Main Battle Tanks.^[63] However, many of these are purely kept in storage and do not equip front-line units or formations. Figures are also given for;

• Armoured fighting vehicles - not including Armoured personnel carriers, Armoured reconnaissance vehicles or Armoured Patrol vehicles.
• Artillery Units -
• Attack helicopters - including armed battlefield helicopters.

The (DASA) provides professional analytical, economic and statistical services and advice to the Ministry of Defence (MOD), and defence-related statistics to Parliament, other Government Departments and the public.

A chart showing the the combined number of the EU's Fighter aircraft compared to other military powers. EU figures sourced from Flightglobal. (Note: 100 = 1 thousand)

	Country	Main Battle Tanks	Armoured fighting vehicles	Artillery units	Attack helicopters	Strike aircraft	Fighter aircraft
	European Union	9,595	20,050	11,073	1,087	762	1,423
	France[63][64]	809	2,646	704	246	156	142
	United Kingdom[63][64]	357	1,735	356	233	136	71
	Germany[63][64]	1,201	2,214	1,070	163	177	95
	Italy[63][64]	1,168	3,097	1,424	119	146	65
	Spain[63][64]	532	992	896	32		144
	Greece[63][64]	1,614	2,179	1,723	31	59	227
	Poland[63][64]	900	1,480	1,046	90	42	80
	Romania[63][64]	1,280	1,699	1,335	23		36
	Netherlands[63][64]	139	715	252	16		99
	Portugal[63][64]	216	424	381			34
	Belgium[63][64]	106	245	133	31		69
	Finland[64]						62
	Bulgaria[63][64]	564	738	1,176	19	22	14
	Austria[64]						15
	Czech Republic[63][64]	174	513	258	26	24	14
	Denmark[63][64]	147	321	42	12		50
	Hungary[63][64]	156	622	115	30		19
	Sweden[64]						175
	Slovakia[63][64]	232	430	162	16		12

Forces and frameworks

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.

• European Defence Agency
• European Security and Defence Identity
• European Union Institute for Security Studies
• 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
• EU Battlegroup - a type of force of which there are 15, each one numbering 1,500 troops. Under direct control of the European Council.
• 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)

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.^[65]

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.

• Finabel
• Eurocorps - independent military force composed of 60,000 troops that can be deployed for various missions
• Eurofor - rapid reaction force to be included in EUFOR missions.
• European Gendarmerie Force - crisis intervention force composed of 900 personnel, with 2,300 additional personnel that can be deployed as reinforcements
• European Air Group
• European Air Transport Command (EATC)
• European Maritime Force with no current assignments.
• Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation
• I. German/Dutch Corps has been extended as NATO's Response Force brigade. It includes battalions and platoons from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Denmark, Turkey and Norway. Overall personnel come from 12 countries. The standing corps of 1200 has been increased to 8500 during the NFOR-4 turn.
• proposed European Defence Initiative
• proposed Permanent Structured Cooperation in Defence.

See also

• Franco-British Defence and Security Cooperation Treaty and Downing Street Declaration
• EUNAVFOR
• European Defence Community
• Treaty of Brussels
• Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

References

European Union

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