3 minute read
Pieter de Crem, Brussels
y and Defence Policy (CSDP) down. But now is not the time to let up our efforts. On crisis as an opportunity to forge ahead with common projects and to make a qualis laid down in the Lisbon Treaty in order to assume global responsibilities and amvil and military capabilities are there: they just need to be brought together.
d national sovereignty and Defence Policy: Challenges and Perspectives
European Union to make a qualitative leap so that it may realise the foreign policy ambitions bestowed upon it by the Lisbon Treaty, underpinned by the necessary military capabilities, and also act responsibly as a “security provider” in the framework of the United Nations. The only way to achieve this is to strengthen our cooperation in the field of security and defence. Over the last few years, EU Member States have clearly shown their will to reinforce cooperation on security and defence matters. Several regional initiatives in particular have enabled important progress to be achieved. However, we are only at the beginning of what will be a long-term process that which require our permanent attention and effort.
… that will strengthen the EU and Member States Major difficulties still stand in the way of close cooperation and the most severe financial and economic crisis of the Union’s history is having obvious repercussions for the defence budgets of all European countries. However, difficulties are there to be surmounted, and we need to turn challenges into opportunities. Under the Belgian EU Presidency in 2010 the “Ghent Framework” was born, giving new impetus to the concept of “Pooling & Sharing” of military capabilities. Although this concept was quickly accepted as the way ahead, all too often EU Member States still lack a multinational mindset in the field of security and defence and stick to the idea that military cooperation implies a loss of national sovereignty. Shared sovereignty among EU states may be much stronger and surer.
Redefine the role of the EU as a security guarantor Therefore, 2013 must become a pivotal year in the sense of a new departure that will allow us to better reconcile solidarity and sovereignty. The European Council discussion at the end
Pieter De Crem has been Belgian Deputy Prime Minister since March 2013 and Minister of Defence since 2007. He was born in 1962 in Aalter, East Flanders. He obtained a Master’s degree in Romanic philology from the University of Leuven and in international and European Law from the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels. From 1989 to 1992 he was an attaché in the private office of Minister Wilfried Martens and Minister Leo Delcroix. His political career began in 1989 when he was elected Chairman of the Young CVP (Christian People’s Party), section Ghent-Eeklo. In 1994, he was elected Mayor of Aalter. As a young mayor he ran in the federal elections as the CVP candidate for the constituency of Ghent-Eeklo. Once elected to Parliament he became a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence. Mr De Crem was also a member of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
of the year must result in concrete deliverables and a clear and unambiguous long-term vision of and commitment to European defence cooperation. In this discussion, it is also important never to lose sight of the fact that 21 EU Member States are also members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Duplication between both organisations is pointless and costly, and must be avoided at all times. We also need a better understanding of how the European Union and NATO can mutually complement and reinforce each other. A strong Europe is also in the interests of our transatlantic partners and will allow us to bear a more equitable share of the security burden. We must ask ourselves which role we want the European Union to play in this world. If we want Europe to remain a strong and reliable global player, we have only one option, and that is to join our efforts. If not, the Union’s role as a global guarantor of peace and stability will wane. We cannot and must not jeopardise our future and that of the generations to come.