Dryce
Hardcore MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- May 17, 2006
- Messages
- 10,957
- Car
- ..
What's the issue with having an EU army? Sounds like a sensible idea to me.
It's logical aspiration but complicated.
One complication is NATO and costs. Another is policy.
NATO ... EU creates its own miltary ... does this supplant NATO in Europe or does it become part of NATO? And does it supplant the USA's position with regard to European defence. Which leads to
Costs .... as far as NATO is concerned then a EU military then makes the US look at its contribution and ask why the EU doesn't match it as colleectively it's a large block. Within the EU you then have the issue of how costs are shared - who does what and who pays for it.
Policy ... huge can of worms. What exactly is the EU military for - and that leads to the issue of what is being paid for. And there's the thorny issue of nuclear. And who runs it. Britain and France are dominant military powers in the EU at the moment.
As things stand the fudge has always been that an EU military force is something separate from national defence.
This all leads to some interesting hypotheticals. So for example - Suppose the EU went the full military integration route. How would the SNP feel about an independent Scotland being part of a nuclear armed EU - and take that a step further - how would they feel about the Faslane base being used as the base for a EU nuclear deterrent. Or how would Spain feel about the EU forces and any obligations to defending the Falklands.