Eurocorps
Eurocorps Insignia
Active	1 October 1993- Present
Country	standing force of the Western European Union under Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, Spain sponsorship
Branch	Army
Size	Mission-tailored combat units plus staff and support units
Garrison/HQ	HQ - Strasbourg Support Brigade - Strasbourg Multiple earmarked local units of member states
Commanders
Commanding General	Lieutenant General Hans-Lothar Domröse (Germany)
Deputy Commanding General	Major General Philippe Sommaire (France)

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Eurocorps is a multinational army corps within the framework of the Western European Union common defence initiatives. Headquartered in Strasbourg, France, the force was established in 1992 and declared operational in 1995, though it draws from European defence initiatives as far back as the 1960s.^[1]

Six countries participate in Eurocorps as "framework nations": Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, and Spain. A further six countries have pledged troops or contribute operational staff: Austria, Greece, Italy, Romania, Turkey, and the USA. Most of these countries are members of the EU (with the exception of Turkey and the USA) and of NATO (with the exception of Austria).

Eurocorps comprises approximately 1,000 soldiers stationed in Strasbourg and up to 60,000 troops pledged for deployment in EU or NATO rapid-response missions.^[2] The nucleus of the force is the Franco-German Brigade established in 1987.

Contents 1 Organisation 1.1 Headquarters 1.2 Subordinate units 2 Deployments 3 Participating countries 4 Notes 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Organisation

The Eurocorps is not subordinate to any other military organisation.^[3] It is deployed on the authority of the Western European Union member states represented in the Common Committee^[4] by each nation's Chief of Defence and Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This committee considers requests for support from multinational organisations such as the UN, NATO or EU. The Corps can also be deployed at the behest of the member nations. In 2008 the European Parliament voted with a large resolution proposing that Eurocorps becomes the standing army of the EU, under EU command.^[5]

[edit] Headquarters

The Eurocorps headquarters is based in Strasbourg near the Franco-German border, the seat of several European institutions. The headquarters contains the following units^[6]:

• A Command Group consisting of the Commanding General, the Deputy Commanding General, Air and Navy representatives, legal advisers, a public affairs office, a medical adviser and political advisers (only during engagement).
• A Staff of approximately 350 providing support to the command group. The staff includes also officers from Austria, Poland, Greece, and Turkey.
• A Multi-national Command Support Brigade is colocated in Strasbourg. This brigade is separate and subordinate to the Corps headquarters and provides additional support when the Corps is deployed. The brigade is formed from units provided by the nations on a case-by-case basis but has a permanent headquarters of 80 personnel.
• A Headquarters Support Battalion (subordinated to the Multi-national Command Support Brigade) providing protection, transport, food, etc. to headquarters. This battalion consists of approximately 330 soldiers but can be significantly reinforced in case of commitments.

English is the command language and all personnel assigned to Eurocorps headquarters must be able to use it.

[edit] Subordinate units

The five framework countries have earmarked the following units to the Eurocorps:

• The French-German Brigade (under operational command) (Müllheim)
• French Contribution
  • A "Etat-Major de Force 2" (emf2) (equivalent to a divisional HQ) till 30 June 2009: one armoured brigade, one mechanised infantry brigade, if necessary specialized support units (HQ Nantes)
• German Contribution
  • The 10th Armoured Division, with its HQ in Sigmaringen
    • 12th Panzer Brigade (Amberg)
    • 30th Panzergrenadier Brigade (Ellwangen)
• Belgian Contribution
  • The Operational Command Land, with its HQ in Evere
    • 1st Medium Brigade (Leopoldsburg)
    • 7th Mechanised Brigade (Marche-en-Fammene)
• Spanish Contribution
  • The "Cuartel General del Mando de Fuerzas Pesadas" (Heavy Forces Command) in Burgos where the 1st Mechanised Division is stationed.
    • 10th Mechanised Brigade (Cordoba)
    • 12th Armoured Brigade (Madrid)
• Luxembourg Contribution
  • A reconnaissance company (180 soldiers) based in Diekirch, composed of two reconnaissance platoons, an anti-tank platoon and a logistics support element. This unit will normally be integrated into the Belgian contribution during operations.
• Polish Contribution
  • "17 Wielkopolska Brygada Zmechanizowana" (17th Mechanised Brigade) based at Międzyrzecz.

Except for the Franco-German Brigade and the Staff of the Multinational Command Support Brigade (MNCS Bde) that are permanently under operational command of HQ Eurocorps, the national contributions remain under national command in peacetime. They become fully subordinated after Transfer of Authority has been decided by member states.

The size and type of Eurocorps units required in operations will depend on the nature and scope of assigned missions, likely employment, and the expected operational outcome. In the case that all earmarked national contributions are committed, the Corps would number approximately 60,000.

[edit] Deployments

The Brigade participated in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and led KFOR III in Kosovo from 18 April 2000 to October 2000 and led the ISAF6 Force in Afghanistan from 9 August, 2004 to 11 February 2005.^[7] From 1 July 2006, to 10 January 2007, HQ Eurocorps was the land component stand by element of the NATO Response Force 7.

[edit] Participating countries

"Framework nations":

• Belgium - Défense Belge - Belgische Defensie
• France - Ministère de la Défense français or [1]
• Germany - Deutsche Bundeswehr
• Luxembourg - Lëtzebuerger Arméi
• Poland - Wojsko Polskie
• Spain - Ministerio de Defensa

Other contributors:

• Austria
• Greece
• Italy
• Romania
• Turkey
• USA

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• European Institutions in Strasbourg

[edit] External links

• Official Eurocorps website
• The Eurocorps-Foreign Legion concept and its Single European Regiment: A proposed evolution in the Eurocorps and ESDI in NATO