Aiming at more than the Taliban

DEFENCE SPENDING IN 2008

                                                         EU*              US
Total defence expenditure:       €200bn      €466bn**
As share of GDP:                         1.6%            4.7%
Per capita:                                    €406          €1,532

*EDA member states (EU minus Denmark)
**At average exchange rate for 2008
Source: EDA

 On Thursday (4 February), the French and German governments held a joint cabinet meeting in Paris and adopted the ‘Agenda 2020', a “shared vision for our joint future on the way to the year 2020”. The agenda contains a good dozen fairly concrete tasks and goals on foreign and security policy, including:
õ full implementation of last year's decisions by the EU's member states on European capabilities, such as the European Air Transport Fleet and the strengthening of the defence technological and industrial base, which are projects undertaken by the European Defence Agency (EDA);
õ strengthening of civilian and military crisis management by the EU, including the possible creation of permanent multilateral structures;
õ a level playing-field in the armaments market between European and transatlantic partners;
õ increased German-French consultations on Afghanistan.

The consultation document (or ‘green paper') published by the UK government last week (3 February) aims to set out the main questions to be considered in the strategic defence review that the next government is to undertake after this year's general election. The Conservatives, who are expected to win the election, are not enthusiasts of greater EU integration, and the paper's appeal that “as Europeans, we must take greater responsibility for our security together” is not likely to carry much weight with them. But as supporters of strong and credible armed forces, the Conservatives will find it difficult to escape the economic logic laid out in the document. Both equipment and personnel costs are expected to rise above inflation, according to the paper, and there are limits to cost reductions achieved by capability improvements or efficiency.
The paper is at great pains to stress that the UK's relationships with NATO and the EU are “mutually reinforcing”. “The UK will greatly improve its influence if we and our European partners speak and act in concert,” it says. “A robust EU role in crisis management will strengthen NATO.” The paper also says that the case for greater “international role specialisation” should be considered, that is, encouraging countries and organisations to focus on what they do best, in co-operation with others.