No.34. (19/12/2003)

Washington accepts EU's independent military plan
Friday December 12, 2003

The US has accepted controversial British-brokered plans for independent EU military planning, despite having warned that this would pose a grave threat to Nato. In what will be regarded as a diplomatic coup for Tony Blair, diplomats in Brussels said last night that Washington had finally given its blessing to proposals that will allow the prime minister to implement a landmark defence deal with France and Germany. It will be formally tabled at the EU summit today. Mr Blair has twice been in telephone contact with President George Bush in the past few days to assure him the laboriously negotiated deal will not weaken Nato.

"This has been a delicate negotiation, but it has been fruitful," the Downing St spokesman said last night. Mr Blair has been anxious to repair relations between Europe and America caused by the Iraq war, and place Britain at the heart of an important EU project. The four-point document shows how the French and Germans - prompted by Britain - have bent over backwards to assuage US concerns. "Nato is the discussion forum and natural choice for an operation involving the European and American allies," it says. Hints of the breakthrough came from George Robertson, Nato's secretary general, who has been trying to ensure that Europe's defence ambitions do not duplicate or undermine the Atlantic alliance.

The Bush administration has been suspicious about plans for an EU rapid reaction force, seeing it as a French-inspired drive to subvert Nato and weaken US influence. Washington was also furious about plans championed by Paris and Berlin to establish a separate military headquarters. President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who meet Mr Blair today, agreed to water down their original plan following negotiations with Britain. UK officials describe the proposed EU military "planning cell" as having a skeleton staff that will be employed only as a "last resort". As a further concession to the US, the EU has agreed that Nato can have a permanent liaison office at EU military HQ in Brussels. The defence proposal is not in the draft EU constitution, but it has been negotiated in parallel with it.

2. Lord Robertson, the Secretary General of NATO, today welcomed the proposals on European Security tabled by the EU Presidency.

Lord Robertson commented: "The acid test of all proposals for change, whether in NATO or the EU, is whether they add real value and real capabilities to our overall ability to deal with today's threats and challenges. These proposals put the stronger EU arrangements for civil-military coordination firmly within the context of Berlin Plus, and underline formally in an EU document NATO's position as the natural choice for operations involving European and North American allies. These proposals confirm that the EU will only consider undertaking operations where NATO as a whole has decided not to be engaged, and make clear that there will be no duplication of NATO's standing operational planning capabilities. Finally, these proposals commit the EU to much greater transparency and deeper cooperation with NATO through an EU cell at SHAPE, NATO's military headquarters, and reciprocal NATO liaison arrangements at the EU Military Staff.

NATO countries needed to know that the fundamentals of ESDP would not change, that there would be no permanent EU operational planning staff, and that the new EU arrangements would be fully transparent. These proposals provide all of that. If they are agreed and implemented in the spirit of complementarity between the two organisations underlined by all EU members in recent days, this will be a good deal for the EU and for NATO. NATO is prepared to begin work at once on the modalities for the EU cell at SHAPE, NATO liaison at the EU Military Staff, and the full transparency between the EU and NATO sought in the Presidency proposals."

(Ian Black and Michael White in Brussels, The Guardian)