Barnier rekindles the flame of the European Defense Community!

(BRUSSELS2) Speaking at Humboldt University in Berlin, for Europe Day, Michel Barnier insisted on having a proactive discourse, particularly in terms of defence. He thus calls for relaunch the construction of a European Defense Community, if necessary within the framework of 'structured cooperation' (made) henceforth possible with the Treaty of Lisbon”.

A real structured cooperation project

Now Commissioner in charge of the Internal Market, Michel Barnier also chaired working group no. 8 devoted to Defence, of the European Convention which led to the Lisbon Treaty. He kinda knows what he's talking about. For him, this cooperation can be structured around a few projects: “A real staff, systematic pooling of research and programming efforts and capacities, a European preference for acquisitions. The Union must equip itself with a genuine permanent capacity for planning and conducting operations, as Poland and Germany or France have wished. And the creation of a network of European consulates in the rest of the world bringing together at least the countries of the Schengen Area willing to work together and provide common assistance to their compatriots. »

Objective: to become a robust and credible partner

It's not really a choice, he believes, but a necessity guided by a goal. “The challenge for Europe is to be ready to assume more and more its own collective defense, but also to become a robust and credible partner of the United States. In terms of security (terrorism, cyber-attacks, organized crime) or defense (regional conflicts, collective defense of the continent, nuclear proliferation), no European state can face all the threats alone. (And) the budgetary constraints are such for each of our countries, if it remains alone, that this would lead to a strategic stall for all. »

Strengthen the concept of a European Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The European Diplomatic Service, which should once again be called the European Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has an essential role, underlines the Commissioner. " That of being the place, under the impetus of Catherine Ashton, of a common diplomatic culture. It cannot be the place where, for the benefit of a simple cooperation between a few States, the external policies which are already Community, for development, neighborhood or trade, would unravel. It must be the place where the crisis management instruments put in place 10 years ago will be maintained and strengthened. » This " common European diplomacy – I did not say unique – must be built by the patient and voluntary pooling of expertise, geopolitical analyses, strategies and, when necessary, intelligence. »

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