That the European Union has an ambition to have a European army is well known. The federasts are right that if they’re to have that single European state then they do need the ability to project force. The fun thing about this is that even if they did in fact pool all of the European armed forces they’d not in fact be able to do anything. For without the US in lift and delivery capacity – and coming soon the UK’s absence – they just don’t have that ability to project power:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] A combined European defence force would be “out of its depth” if required to act on several fronts, a report laying bare the continent’s military frailties has found. Researchers attempted to pitch the EU’s military ambitions against the actual capabilities of its members by creating a range of scenarios to which they may have to respond. These included peace enforcement missions, conflict prevention, rescue and evacuation work and humanitarian assistance, in regions ranging from the Horn of Africa to the Caucasus. It was found that, given the current equipment and resource picture, juggling several missions at once would be “beyond the reach of EU member states”. [/perfectpullquote]Note that they’ve not even had a look at whether they could wage war. And the thought that they might actually try to defend Europe is even further over the horizon. It’s one of those things we’ve not really got to worry about therefore.
Except, except. Imagine we did stay in, the idea went ahead. That would mean joint equipment, joint control, joint decision making. And that’s where the emasculation of military power would come from. Not that the forces would not exist, but that those which did would depend upon Brussels for deployment. And, well, you know. Belgium refused us ammo during the Falklands. Being dependent upon their say so to deploy our own troops in the future? Go boil your head’s at the polite end of response to that one, isn’t it?
Who is going to decide when and where to deploy EU forces, under what authority and what set of rules. Will it be Juncker after Friday lunch?
The projection of power point is moot, they ain’t gonna be sending the boys anywhere outside the EU, you can deploy them to, say, Hungary by bus.
It will be the Germans. Who else do you think is capable?
With the French following meekly in their footsteps……
We’re overdue for German panzers to once more be rolling down the Champs-Élysées – this time it’ll be to control the Gilets Jaunes. But who is ever going to die in a ditch for Juncker and the four freedoms?
…A combined European defence force would be “out of its depth” if required to act on several fronts…
Most military organisations have difficulty fighting on several fronts at once. Probably the best military in the world, the German Wehrmacht, could not manage it in WW2. This makes me think that this commentary is depending on rather partial extracts from the original report….
A EU army would be an ideal way to employ all those unemployed young, angry people – particularly Merkel’s hoards – give them something to do, subject to military discipline and political control.
What better way to protect the regime from a significant portion of the population, disaffected, resentful, and prevent them mobilising or being mobilised against the ruling clique? It works just fine in North Korea for example.