New German government prepares to promote EU defence co-operation
German coalition calls for regular EU security summits.
The European Council on 19-20 December is shaping up to be an early opportunity for the new German government to demonstrate its emerging commitment to developing European Union defence policy.
Germany’s Social Democrat party will announce next week (14 December) the results of a ballot of its members on whether to accept a coalition with the Christian Democrats under the leadership of Angela Merkel, but the details of the agreement struck last Wednesday (27 November) by the two parties will not be changed.
That agreement commits the coalition “to take new political initiatives to strengthen and deepen the [European Union’s] common foreign and security policy” and argues that EU leaders “should as a rule once a year deal with foreign, security and defence policy”.
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The summit of the EU’s national leaders in two weeks’ time has long been earmarked for discussion of defence issues – the first such discussion at a European Council since 2005, though a number of defence-sector conclusions were nodded through in 2008.
The leaders will discuss EU security missions abroad, strengthening the European defence industry, and co-operation to develop defence equipment.
Political approval for early-stage EU co-operation to develop drones looks increasingly likely to emerge as one of the main outcomes of the summit, partly because of German support.
Germany was among a group of eight EU states that recently agreed to invest jointly in research into components for a drone.
A diplomat from another EU state said the idea of a European drone is popular among policymakers, in part because the complexity of developing hardware and software for the project would create industrial opportunities for large and small countries alike.
Defence ministers on 19 November asked the European Defence Agency to draw up a study of the possible costs of a European surveillance drone. In a report this summer, the European Commission argued that EU funds could be made available for the development of drones, provided that they also had a civilian use. Conclusions agreed by national leaders at the summit would be likely to emphasise the potential civilian use of drones, reflecting anxiety about the public’s association of drones with US attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.
Germany has also emerged as the leading proponent of using EU money to equip foreign armies. Officials and diplomats are keen to stress that the aim would be to provide non-lethal equipment such as tents, transport and walkie-talkies.
Officials say a lack of basic equipment is hampering the EU’s efforts to increase the resilience of armies in Africa, the site of most current EU security missions. It is also an issue in ongoing talks about support that should be provided to the Lebanese army.
Germany has this year faced serious questions about its commitment to the development of European defence, stemming from the decision of Merkel last year to veto a merger between two giants of the European defence industry, EADS and BAe Systems.
Merkel’s decision prevented what many defence experts argue was a much-needed consolidation of the defence industry.
Discussion about drones and equipping other armies are very much at the exploratory stage, which is why, a diplomat from a small member state said, the outcomes of the summit would probably be small. He added that “for us the European Council should be about small things”, arguing that “Europe with its current crises and signs of fault-lines must take care to be credible”.
Defence will be one of two major tests of European unity at the summit. The other principal topic of discussion will be plans for a European banking union, an issue on which German objections are preventing an agreement.