In the past few months, gossip in the corridor has spread the so-called European Commission’s proposal for the 5,000-unit European Union “Initial entry force“. Francesca Romana D’Antuono wrote that political will is both the main trigger and obstacle in this process. Rainier van Lanshot and Emile Fabre.
Francesca Romana D’Antuono and Reinier van Lanschot is Co-chairman of Volt Europa. Emile Fabre is a political consultant.
Against the background of the drastic changes in the security situation in Afghanistan, there is reason to believe that now is the time, and the European Commission will eventually seize this issue.
But President Ursula von Dlein soon ease Instead of her expectations in the State of the Union address, she provided a more cautious road map for the European Defense Alliance.
Of course, this is the most pragmatic method. However, a bold and adventurous EU crisis response force proposal should have been put forward long ago.
The emergence of Afghanistan is a stark reminder that our government’s response to the crisis still lacks coordination and is essentially driven by a political agenda at the national level.
At the same time, it serves as an additional piece of evidence—if we need it—at the moment when the United States chooses to withdraw from the crisis zone, our isolated actions often lack strength, further underscoring our over-reliance on Washington for defense affairs.
However, in recent years there have been promising efforts in the form of permanent structural cooperation (PESCO), which allows willing countries to establish joint defense projects around common interests.
However, while the program provides unique opportunities for our headquarters to gradually get used to concentrating their capabilities, so far it has caused little craze among the capitals.
Earlier this year, the EU’s military plan was further accelerated because the Commission launched the European Defense Fund support Joint military research and development.
At the same time, 14 member states, including Germany and France, showed encouraging signs by proposing the formation of an EU coalition… But a few months later they returned to their uncoordinated selves in Afghanistan.
Subsequently, at the meeting of EU defense ministers in early September, a proposal for temporary military forces appeared again, and then quickly Turn off A small number of countries are deeply entrenched because they do not meet their vision of European security-fully cooperating with the United States.
Therefore, the EU cannot currently deploy its own armed forces: the task force is still under the control of our governments, so our response in Afghanistan is fragmented.
Laurens Dassen, Volt’s Dutch MP right: The EU needs a standing armed force that can deploy quickly and autonomously in crises such as the one we face in Kabul. The EU should have a highly specialized team of professionals capable of responding to sudden crises, whether man-made, accidental or natural.
For example, this would include rapid decontamination teams for CBRN incidents, rescue teams for climate disasters, or units that ensure the safety and rapid evacuation of people in fragile environments.
There is nothing unrealistic about this proposal: the EU already has its basic framework at the European level. The EU battle group has existed since 2007, but it still depends on political will and the unanimous rules of the council to be fully activated.
Therefore, they were never really deployed!
In terms of military planning and behavioral capabilities, the European Union has conceived the embryonic form of a military headquarters to decide when and how to deploy these battle groups. Essentially, these capacities are pieces of furniture that have not yet been assembled.
Our government should now begin the long-term process of removing the barriers to having a battle group at the EU level.
Early next year, the European Union will propose a strategic compass, another promising effort aimed at developing the security and defense aspects of Federica Mogherini’s global strategy through a joint analysis of threats and their most appropriate responses.
Similar to the common issues we witnessed in Kabul recently, it should trigger a common response. However, consensus among European capitals is still far away.
Therefore, a small number of member states need to achieve a leap of faith and take the first step together.Although it was unthinkable not long ago, it is now considered immovable: last week, five countries finally Express They are willing to establish a joint rapid reaction force for future military crises.
We can only hope that this “Alliance of Wills” will turn such a statement into a milestone for the future EU. The group can lead this process by demonstrating the added value of the first EU permanent battle group dedicated to responding to the crisis, which will be established at the European Defense Summit next year.
As President Von der Lein emphasized in her State of the Union address, the spark ultimately boils down to political will, and it is time for us to make this leap.
