We need a European operations HQ says H. Morin, we still have to convince the British
(BRUSSELS2) Speaking at a symposium organized by the Robert Schuman Foundation in Paris on Thursday, the French Minister of Defense, Hervé Morin did not hesitate to put his foot in the dish. He spoke out in favor of strengthening European defence, European operations headquarters, a real Council of Defense Ministers and the use of the military (when necessary). " Only the construction of a political Europe, endowed with all the attributes of power, and above all a credible European security and defense policy, can enable our continent to continue to influence world affairs. he explained.
These words may seem obvious, but... a few days before the Irish vote on the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, when everyone knows that defense policy was a controversial issue during the previous campaign, to move clearly towards a consolidation of the Europe of the defence, and in particular its military aspect, is an act that few public figures take up the challenge. The instruction given in Brussels to all officials, diplomats and soldiers, from the highest to the lowest level, is indeed: " No statements, not a word until October 2, no waves ". Nothing that can influence the Irish vote or be used in the election campaign. "All work on the preparation and the establishment of the future institutions of the Treaty of Lisbon are also stopped", at least officially. " Of course, we can't prevent people from chatting, but that's more a matter of commercial coffee. explains a European expert. This does not effectively preclude a few thoughts on the External Action Service (I will come back to this).
From this speech, I retained three elements.
Soldiers exist: they must be employed. “With Eurocorps, theEurofor or more recently the 1500-man battle groups, we have created European force headquarters, multinational forces. It is not acceptable that these armed forces, trained, equipped, trained, financed, made up of motivated officers and soldiers, most often remain at gunpoint in their barracks. »
A European Operation HQ is required. « To command EU operations, I remain convinced that a European capability for planning and commanding operations is still necessary. How do you want to be able to react quickly if you have to build from scratch, for each operation, a European headquarters? To dismantle it as soon as the operation is completed! The establishment of this capability has long been jeopardized by fears linked to the French position within NATO. This debate is now behind us. The Americans are no longer against it. Everyone is convinced, the Germans, the Poles... "And to add" Today we just have to overcome the reluctance of our British friends”. It's just a matter of time " I am convinced that in one, two or five years, we will end up having a center of command, planning and conduct of operations in Europe”.
A real Council of Defense Ministers. In addition to the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission (introduced by the Lisbon Treaty), the French Minister considers it necessary to have "this European leadership, meetings more regular and decision-making from the Ministers of Defence.“ Today, the ESDP can no longer be steered with defense ministers who see each other for the settlement of all accounts, twice a semester, at fixed deadlines, including an informal meeting - therefore in principle non-decisional..."
