More Soldiers, More Opinions for European Security

A Common European Security and Defense Policy has been a dream of the EU for years. But with 15 already very different nations expanding to 25, that dream may still be a ways off.

In the Treaty of Helsinki 1999, the European Union agreed to set up a rapid reaction force – a sort of European army – composed of 60,000 troops that could deploy within 60 days to sort out problems within the Union’s own backyard. The Union had twice failed, in Bosnia in the early 1990s and in Yugoslavia in 1999, to take effective action to stop violence in the Balkan region. NATO did it for them.

But in the post-9/11 world, some European countries – at the urging of the United States – are realizing developing an effective fighting force with modern equipment is the best way for the Union to establish itself as a credible mediator on the world stage. Such a force is already taking shape, and is due to take over policing duties in Bosnia from NATO troops some time in 2003.

The new countries bring little in terms of military backing. Only Poland and the Czech Republic break the billion dollar mark on defense spending. The combined defense spending of the ten EU candidates is 5.8 billion. Sweden alone spends more per year than that. The UK almost six times that amount.

The new countries will nevertheless have their head of state sitting on the European Council, which decides on common EU foreign policy initiatives. But the new nations are not likely to weigh in heavily on foreign policy decisions, leaving that to already established EU nations like Germany and France.

Illustration Raimo Bergt