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The military of the European Union today comprises the national militaries of the 27 member states, as the area of defence is primarily the domain of nation states. In spite of this, a number of European insititutional arrangements and military forces have been established in order to further the the area of defence in European integration, resulting in frequent European Union military operations in recent years.

Several prominent leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, have voiced support for a common defence for the Union.^[1][2] This possibility will be formally laid down in the Treaty on European Union following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009. Additionally, the area of defence will become available to enhanced co-operation.

Contents 1 History 2 Deployments 3 Future prospects 4 Arrangements 5 Militaries of member states 5.1 Spending 5.2 Manpower 6 See also 7 References

[edit] History

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An early attempt to integrate the militaries of Western Europe, was the failed 1952 European Defence Community. As 21 of the 27 EU member states are also members of NATO, some EU states cooperate on defence policy (collective security) albeit primarily through NATO rather than through the EU or aligned groups (such as the Western European Union). However, the memberships of the EU, WEU, and NATO are distinct, and some EU member states are constitutionally committed to remain neutral on defence issues. Several of the new EU member states were formerly members of the Warsaw Pact.

The EU currently has a limited mandate over defence issues, with a role to explore the issue of European defence agreed to in the Amsterdam Treaty, as well as oversight of the Helsinki Headline Goal Force Catalogue (the 'European Rapid Reaction Force') processes. However, some EU states may and do make multilateral agreements about defence issues outside of the EU structures.

[edit] Deployments

In 2004 EU countries took over leadership of the mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina from NATO through the European Union Force (EUFOR). The mission was given the branding of an EU initiative as the EU sponsored the force to further the force's image of legitimacy. There have been other deployments such as in Gaza and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Recently the European High Representative for Foreign Policy, Javier Solana has indicated the EU could send troops to Georgia, perhaps alongside Russian forces.^[3]

[edit] Future prospects

The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 January 2009 is expected to trigger member states of the Western European Union (WEU) to scrap the largely dormant organisation, but to keep the mutual defence clause of the Treaty of Brussels as a basis for a possible EU mutual defence arrangement.^[4]

The Treaty of Lisbon also states the following:

“

The common security and defence policy shall include the progressive framing of a common defence policy. This will lead to a common defence, when the European Council, acting unanimously, so decides. (TEU, Article 27) [5]

”

On 20 February 2009 the European Parliament voted in favour of the creation of Synchronized Armed Forces Europe (SAFE) as a first step towards a true European military force. SAFE will be directed by an EU directorate, with its own training standards and operational doctrine. There are also plans to create an EU "Council of Defence Ministers" and "a European statute for soldiers within the framework of Safe governing training standards, operational doctrine and freedom of operational action".^[6]

[edit] Arrangements

The EU primarily acts through its Common Foreign and Security Policy, though Denmark has an opt-out from this and some states are limited by neutrality issues. As a result forces under EU command have been for peacekeeping, in which European states have a great deal of experience.

If all the member states' annual spending was taken as a bloc the figure would amount to over $311 billion, second only to the US military's $713 billion.^[7] However the cumulative effect is much less than it seems due to duplication of capacities in individual militaries.^{[citation needed]} There have been efforts to overcome this with joint projects such as the Eurofighter and through joint procurement of equipment.

• Common Foreign and Security Policy
• European Defence Agency
• European Security and Defence Identity
• European Security and Defence Policy
• European Union Institute for Security Studies
• European Union Battlegroups (closest thing to an EU military, composed of 15 battlegroups, each one numbering 1,500 troops. Under direct control of European Council.)
• European Union Force - the title used for EU peacekeeping deployments, which have included Bosnia/Hercegovina, Chad/CAR, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Eurocorps (independent military force composed of 60,000 troops that can be deployed for various missions)
• Eurofor (rapid reaction force under command of the Western European Union)
• European Gendarmerie Force (crisis intervention force composed of 900 personnel, with 2,300 additional personnel that can be deployed as reinforcements)
• Helsinki Headline Goal (listing of rapid reaction forces composed of 60,000 troops managed by the European Union, but under control of the countries who deliver troops for it)
• European Union Military Staff (supervises military operations carried out by the EU; its chief is General Henri Bentegeat, a former chief of the French Defence Staff)

[edit] Militaries of member states

[edit] Spending

US$ billion

The hypothetically combined EU military budget compared to foreign military powers.

	Country	Defence Budget (USD)	% of GDP	Date
	UK	69,429,180,000	2.49	2007 est
	France	61,096,740,000	2.34	2007 est
	Germany	42,904,200,000	1.28	2007 est
	Italy	28,886,160,000	1.36	2007 est
	Spain	16,862,220,000	1.16	2007 est
	Netherlands	11,574,060,000	1.5	2007 est
	Poland	8,002,620,000	1.89	2007 est
	Greece	7,699,020,000	2.44	2007 est
	Sweden	6,248,640,000	1.36	2007 est
	Belgium	5,198,460,000	1.14	2007 est
	Finland	3,576,960,000	1.45	2007 est
	Austria	3,541,080,000	0.94	2007 est
	Portugal	3,335,460,000	1.48	2007 est
	Denmark	3,271,600,000	1.5	?
	Czech Republic	2,735,160,000	1.55	2007 est
	Romania	2,630,280,000	1.57	2007 est
	Hungary	1,789,860,000	1.28	2007 est
	Ireland	1,349,640,000	0.53	2007 est
	Slovakia	1,142,640,000	1.51	2007 est
	Bulgaria	1,015,680,000	2.55	2007 est
	Slovenia	687,240,000	1.48	2007 est
	Lithuania	452,640,000	1.17	2007 est
	Latvia	447,120,000	1.63	2007 est
	Cyprus	407,100,000	1.89	2007 est
	Estonia	346,380,000	1.62	2007 est
	Luxembourg	288,420,000	0.58	2007 est
	Malta	49,680,000	0.66	2007 est
EU combined		284,968,240,000	1.69†	2007 est

All figures are from the List of countries and federations by military expenditures

^† The total EU GDP is calculated from the figures in the table as G = Σ( d_i / f_i ), where d_i = (Country i's defence budget), and f_i = (Country i's fraction of GDP spent on defence); and the percentage is calculated from that figure as D / G, where D = Σd_i. Because both the defence budget figures (d_i) and the fractional GDP figures (f_i) are rounded to the nearest USD 10,000 and 0.01% respectively, this calculation will clearly produce some error in the final figure. An error estimate in the resulting calculation is σ = √ Σ[ (σ_d (G − D / f_i) / G²) ² + ( σ_f (D × d_i) / (G² × f_i²) ² ], where we have assumed a defence budget error, σ_d = USD 5,000 and a fractional GDP error, σ_f = 0.005. This calculation leads to a final figure of (1.687 ± 0.002)%, which we simply give as 1.69% in the table.

[edit] Manpower

Flag	Nation	Active Personnel	Reserve Force	Paramilitary	Total	Active troops/ 1000 citizens	Tanks	Combat aircraft	Transport aircraft	Aircraft Carriers
	France	259,050[8]	419,000 [9]	101,400 [10]	779,450	4.27	1021	482[11]	147[11]	1
	Germany	210,500[12]	302,500[13]	45,050[14]	558,000	3.45	1874	371[15]	176[15]	0
	Italy	240,000[16]	68,000 [16]	238,800[17]	546,800	3.42	1180	460[15]	176[15]	2
	United Kingdom	206,480[18]	233,880[18]	0[18]	440,360	3.41	1175	562[19]	197[19]	3
	Spain	177,950[20]	328,500[20]	72,600[21]	579,050	3.49	661	267[15]	110[15]	2
	Greece	177,600[22]	291,000[22]	4,000[22]	472,600	16.60	1000	254[23]	35[23]	0
	Poland	125,000[24]	234,000[24]	21,300[24]	418,300	4.23	1005	251[25]	87	0
	Romania	90,000[26]	0[26]	79,900[26]	173,519	4.31	340	71	70	0
	Czech Republic	57,050[27]	0[27]	5,600[28]	62,650	5.57	179[29]	52[15]	71[15]	0
	Netherlands	53,130[30]	32,200[30]	3,300[31]	88,630	3.24	119	115[15]	43[15]	0
	Bulgaria	51,000[32]	303,000[32]	34,000[32]	385,450	7.85	590	80[15]	46[15]	0
	Belgium	45,800[33]	100,500[33]	0[33]	146,300	3.94	132	68[15]	37[15]	0
	Portugal	44,900[34]	210,930[34]	25,600[35]	281,430	4.25	137	45	33	0
	Finland	36,700[36]	485,000[36]	3,100[37]	524,800	5.17	124	63		0
	Austria	34,600[38]	72,000[38]	N/A	106,600	4.23	237	16	3	0
	Sweden	33,900[39]	262,000[39]	35,000[40]	295,900	3.07	280	166[15]	41[15]	0
	Hungary	33,400[41]	90,300[41]	12,000[42]	135,700	3.31	0	55[15]	30[15]	0
	Slovakia	26,200[43]	20,000[43]	4,700[44]	50,900	4.05	311	27	24	0
	Denmark	22,880[45]	64,900[45]	61,500[45]	149,280	4.24	57[46]	60	15	0
	Lithuania	13,510[47]	309,200[47]	14,390[47]	33,100	3.53		2[48]	24[48]	0
	Ireland	10,500[49]	14,000[49]	0[49]	24,500	5.78	14[50]	0[15]	12[15]	0
	Cyprus	10,000[51]	60,000[51]	750[51]	70,750	12.80	41[52]	12		0
	Slovenia	9,000[53]	20,000[53]	4,500[54]	33,500	1.21	54	9	12	0
	Estonia	5,700[55]	220,000[56]/>	20,000[55]	245,700	4.13	0	0		0
	Latvia	5,500[57]	14,050[57]	3,200[57]	22,750	2.13	3	0	3[58]	0
	Malta	2,140[59]	0[59]	0[59]	2,140	5.37	0	0		0
	Luxembourg	900[60]	0[60]	612[60]	1,512	1.92	0	0	3	0

• Approximate Figures
• Source of active duty information: Center for Strategic and International Studies 2006 and Jaffa Center of Strategic Studies
• Source of population information: List of countries by population

[edit] See also

• European Defence Community
• Western European Union
• Treaty of Brussels
• North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
• Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

v • d • e Militaries of European Union member states Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom

[edit] References

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