Photo: US Army Africa/flickr.com/CC BY 2.0
Modern Armed Forces for Europe The European Union has for a long time overestimated its political and military potential in the area of security and defence. For most Member States NATO continues to take priority. The recent change in US strategy, with a major shift of security and defence interest to the Pacific region, calls for a serious discussion not only about EU-NATO relations, but also capabilities.
It is a crucial year for the CSDP
The future of the CSDP is in the hands of the Member States Interview with Arnauld Danjean MEP, Chairman SEDE Subcommittee, European Parliament, Strasbourg/Brussels
The European: You are known in Brussels and beyond as a convinced European who looks resolutely towards the future, and who is unsparing in his efforts to move forward with the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). But during parliamentary debates and conferences these past few weeks we have heard some rather pessimistic comments from you about the future of the CSDP. Arnaud Danjean MEP: Yes indeed! We have every good reason to move ahead towards a European defence policy: the US shift towards Asia, financial constraints, the instability in our direct vicinity... and despite all these well-known parameters, there is a patent lack of political will on the part of the member states. It is hard to find any ambition in any of them, above and beyond conventional slogans and superficial commitments. The European: Why is it, do you think, that the nations attach less importance to the CSDP than they do to their national interests or to NATO? Are we so lacking in geopolitical or geostrategic insight that we are unable to frame common European objectives and strategies? I’m thinking here of Libya and Mali. Arnaud Danjean MEP: I think that there are two main reasons: firstly, member states have other priorities than defence. They are struggling with an unprecedented economic and social crisis that leaves very little room for other concerns at the top of governments’ agendas. The second reason is that strategic changes are under way, but our mindset and defence policies are not adapting as fast as one might hope. It is easier simply to rely on NATO and the US, as Europe has done for the last 60 years, than to spend a lot of effort (and money!) on building a
Arnauld Danjean MEP Chairman of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) since 2009. He was born in 1971 in Louhans. 1994–2004, Ministry of Defence, Paris. 2004– 2005, Representative of the Secretary-General of the EU-Council/HR for the CFSP in Kosovo. 2005–2007, Adviser in the private office of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and then Director-adviser, EZL Consulting, Paris. Mr. Danjean is Member of the National Council of the UMP (Saône-et-Loire) and he is an elected member of the Bourgogne Regional Council.
new system, in which NATO would remain an important pillar, but where the Europeans themselves would shoulder more responsibility. Defence policy is about anticipating the world strategic environment in the coming decades. But due to the crisis, our governments’ horizon does not seem to stretch much beyond the weekly business. This is hardly compatible with defining a strategy and the corresponding defence capabilities. The European: The US is moving away from Europe and towards Asia because it thinks that the European countries are now able to take charge of their own security; moreover, they have NATO. In one respect such confidence in the EU is a good thing; but is the EU indeed capable of delivering common security in Europe and its immediate neighbourhood? Arnaud Danjean MEP: That is indeed one of the key challenges faced by Europe. For the first time in decades, there is a posi-
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