European Union countries keep half a million more men and women under arms than the United States. But 70 percent of these troops cannot operate outside of their national borders and only 6,000 of them—0.3 percent of the total—are currently deployed on European Security and Defence Policy operations. The problem, as my colleague at the European Council on Foreign Relations Nick Whitney argues, is that European governments are squandering their already small defence budgets on outdated Cold War style-forces.
Tony Blair hit upon European defence as an issue where the Labour government could lead, pursuing both prestige and power in the EU. He helped the EU ditch its fantasies about a 60,000 person rapid-reaction force and instead pushed the ingenious battle-group concept. Ingenious because, while the 1,500-person groups established were of limited military value – being small, having no lift capacity and deployable only in permissive environments – they nonetheless forced European governments to spend more smartly on defence.
Leadership is again needed today but given his current predicament Gordon Brown is unlikely to take up Nicolas Sarkozy’s cry for a European defense initiative.
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