EU to take key steps to boost its military muscle

Date: 11/11/1999

By Simon Taylor

THE EU's efforts to boost its military muscle are set to take a significant step forward next week.

Foreign ministers are expected to agree at their meeting next Monday (15 November) to appoint the Union's foreign policy supremo Javier Solana as the new secretary-general of the Western European Union, replacing Portuguese diplomat José Cutileiro.

They are also set to endorse plans to set up a new committee at the start of next year to ensure that EU military experts are involved in decisions on how to handle future crises, a year earlier than had originally been planned.

Analysts see the two moves as a sign that Union governments are genuinely committed to giving the Union a military profile. Charles Grant, of the Centre for European Reform, said giving Solana the WEU job would demonstrate the EU's “determination to make defence an integral part of common foreign and security policy”.

The decision will have to be endorsed by WEU ministers when they meet a week later, but this is expected to be a formality because member states are members of the military organisation.

The move to create a new political and security committee is a further sign that the Union's preparations to give itself greater capacity for military action are gathering speed ahead of next month's Helsinki summit. The body, made up of senior level officials from national foreign and defence ministries, would begin work in an advisory capacity in January, instead of waiting until the end of 2000 to create a committee with clear decision-making powers as originally planned.

Diplomats say there is a broad consensus behind the move to set up an interim committee, but member states are divided over how much power the new body should have compared to the EU's Committee of permanent representatives (Coreper).

Officials say that giving the new body full decision-making powers would require changes to the Union treaty and that this will have to be tackled at next year's Intergovernmental Conference.

EU governments have also been discussing how to fill the gaps in the Union's defence capabilities. British and French attempts to persuade other member states to agree to set targets for military spending have found little favour, and efforts are now focusing on getting EU leaders to set a 'headline goal' in Helsinki. This would mean establishing specific objectives for military action, such as being able to deploy a certain number of troops within 60 days.