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The Commission gets its pens tangled up over its defence “Communication”!

Eraser(BRUSSELS2) The Commission's press release announcing the appointment of Michel Barnier as "special advisor for European defence and security policy" to the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, is a feast of... errors. 

In one sentence, he brings together a series of approximations, at the very least unexpected for such a subject, and which would earn an immediate "0" for any student in a European class. We learn in fact that Michel Barnier supervised a " Communication on European defense markets (oh!) presented by the Commission in September 2014 (oh oh!) to the European Council (oh good!) ". (Download here).

A European Council… of ministers!

In fact, the European Council is not a summit of heads of state and government that the Commission wants to mention, but a council of ministers for competitiveness. And this is not really the place where most of the debate on the Commission's Defence communication took place.

Communication, what communication?

This "communication" was not adopted in 2014, but in July 2013 and presented to the ministers, in several formats in the autumn of the same year (Competitiveness in September, Defence in November). This document also constituted the " contribution from the Commission to the European Council of December 2013.

Defense markets or a defense industrial policy

This document also went beyond the strict framework of "defense markets", a precision which is not just a matter of scripture. Called " Towards a more competitive and efficient defense and security sector", his ambition was to have a defence strategy for politics, to create an industrial defence policy, and not just to stick to the "markets" approach. This is what sparked debate and controversy, both within the Commission and among the Heads of State and Government. Remember David Cameron who denounced the fact that the Commission wanted to manage a fleet of drones... (read: David Cameron sounds the charge (heroic)).

Roadmap or communication

This communication then gave rise to an implementation report, a "road map", adopted by the Commission in June 2014. A fairly classic pattern within the European institution which adopts a political document then breaks it down into a more concrete action plan. It was this report which was then presented to the Council of European Ministers for Competitiveness on 25 September 2014 (which is probably what the press release was aiming for) not as a main subject. This presentation did not really lead to any major considerations (which is not the role of the report, by the way). The Council's conclusions also classify this report as "any other business" and devote just a few very simple lines to it:

  • The Council took note of a presentation by the Commission of the report “A New Deal for European Defense” (11358/14), which establishes a roadmap for the activities set out in the communication “Towards a more competitive and efficient defense and security sector” (12773/13).

These are all details. But it's a bit embarrassing for an institution with a reputation for seriousness and one that doesn't hesitate to teach lessons. Ultimately Cameron was perhaps right in not wanting to give the rudder over defense to the Commission. Imagine piloting drones with the same error rate. And we would find ourselves bombing Alaska or Canterbury 😉 or even spying on the Queen chasing away mosquitoes in her summer home. Damned!

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

Read also about the Club: Michel Barnier returns as Defense “pillar” for the Juncker Commission

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

One thought on “The Commission gets its pens tangled up over its defence “Communication”!"

  • It will also be pointed out to the spokesperson for the Commission that in French, the names of months do not take a capital letter; therefore NOT 'September 2014'.

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