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Military of the European Union 

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European Union

This article is part of the series:
Common Foreign and Security Policy
Leaders

European Council
CFSP High Rep. (Solana)
Sub-policies

Security and Defence Policy
Defence Initiative
Defence Procurement
Petersberg tasks
Helsinki Headline Goal
Bodies

Political and Security Committee
Military Committee
Military Staff
Operations Centre
Security & Defence College
Defence Agency
Institute for Security Studies
Satellite Centre
Military forces

EUFOR
Eurofor
Battlegroups

Gendarmerie
Eurocorps
Deployments
 v • d • e 

At present, there is no military of the European Union, as the European integration has not developed very far in the area of defence. There have however been a number of defence initiatives, peacekeeping operations and organisations established in the context of the European Union (EU). The actual defence of the Union is the domain of individual Member States.

An early attempt to integrate the militaries of Western Europe, was the failed 1952 European Defence Community. But since then many politicians, including Guy Verhofstadt, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, promised to create a European military. As many of the 27 EU member states are also members of NATO, some EU states cooperate on defense policy (collective security) albeit primarily through NATO rather than through the EU or aligned group (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.

Contents

Cooperation

Further information: European Security and Defence Policy

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.

The Eurofighter Typhoon; developed by Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain.
The Eurofighter Typhoon; developed by Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain.

If all the member states' annual spending was taken as a bloc the figure would amount to over $292.7 billion, second only to the US military's $518 billion.[1] However the cumulative effect is much less than it seems due to duplication of capacities in individual militaries.citations needed There have been efforts to overcome this with joint projects such as the Eurofighter and through joint procurement of equipment.

For example:

1) There are several European tank versions (e.g. Leclerc, Leopard 2, ERC-90, AMX-30, Challenger 2, Ariete-C1, Centauro,PT-91, T-72CZ), but the US military uses only one tank version.
2) There are several European IFV versions (e.g. FV530citation needed, AMX-10P, Puma, Puma (AFV), CV90, Dardo IFV Jaguar-2), but the US military uses only one IFV version.

Recent developments

The new Treaty of Lisbon will merge a number of elements of the Western European Union (WEU) into the European Union, but not completely disestablish the WEU. It also says that:

'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) [2]

British ministers initially objected to this clause. They wrote 'We believe that the European Council will not make that decision anytime soon. It is therefore inappropriate for the Treaty to pre-judge the decision of the European Council.' However, British ministers later gave way.

On 23 March 2007, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country held the EU presidency at that time, gave an interview in celebration of the EU's fiftieth birthday, in which she expressed the desire for a unified EU army.[3]

On 14 July 2007 French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called on the EU to create a unified military; soldiers from all 27 EU countries marched through the Champs-Elysees as part of that year's Bastille Day celebrations on the invitation of Sarkozy.[4]

Deployment

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.[5]

See pages of individual forces below for details or Overseas interventions of the European Union.

Military forces and groups

Actors, agencies and policies

Member States' military spending

US$ billion
The hypothetically combined EU military
budget compared to foreign military powers.
Country Defence Budget (USD)
Flag of France France 74,690,470,000
Flag of the United Kingdom UK 68,911,000,000
Flag of Germany Germany 45,930,000,000
Flag of Italy Italy 40,060,000,000
Flag of Spain Spain 15,792,207,000
Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands 12,000,000,000
Flag of Poland Poland 10,838,000,000
Flag of Greece Greece 7,648,561,000
Flag of Sweden Sweden 6,309,137,714
Flag of Belgium Belgium 4,000,000,000
Flag of Portugal Portugal 3,497,800,000
Flag of Denmark Denmark 3,271,600,000
Flag of Romania Romania 2,900,000,000
Flag of Finland Finland 2,800,000,000
Flag of Austria Austria 2,334,900,000
Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic 2,170,000,000
Flag of Slovakia Slovakia 1,408,000,000
Flag of Hungary Hungary 1,376,000,000
Flag of Ireland Ireland 1,300,000,000
Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria 1,000,000,000
Flag of Latvia Latvia 672,356,045
Flag of Lithuania Lithuania 490,800,000
Flag of Estonia Estonia 487,049,967
Flag of Cyprus Cyprus 384,000,000
Flag of Slovenia Slovenia 370,000,000
Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg 231,600,000
Flag of Malta Malta 44,640,000
Flag of Europe EU combined 311,920,000,000

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

Size of European militaries

This is a list of European Union/EFTA/Candidate countries sorted by the total number of active troops where the military manpower of a country is measured by the total amount of active troops within the command of that country. Reserved forces which can aid a depleted active military and/or paramilitary are also listed to illustrate a country's total manpower.

Rank Nation Status Active Service Personnel Reserve Force Paramilitary Total Active troops/
1000 citizens		 Tanks Combat aircraft Transport aircraft
1 Flag of Turkey Turkey EU candidate 514,900[6] 378,700[6] 148,700[7] 1,042,300 7.29 4205[8] 352[8] 206[9]
2 Flag of France France EU member 259,050[10] 419,000 [11] 101,400 [12] 779,450 4.27 1021 408[13] 147[13]
3 Flag of Germany Germany EU member 250,500[14] 358,650[15] 40,000[16] 683,150 3.45 2408 444[17] 176[17]
4 Flag of Italy Italy EU member 240,000[18] 68,000 [18] 238,800[19] 546,800 3.42 1600 460[17] 176[17]
5 Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom EU member 206,480[20] 233,880[20] 0[20] 440,360 3.41 1175 562[21] 197[21]
6 Flag of Spain Spain EU member 177,950[22] 328,500[22] 72,600[23] 579,050 3.49 661 267[17] 110[17]
7 Flag of Greece Greece EU member 177,600[24] 291,000[24] 4,000[24] 472,600 16.60 1000 254[25] 35[25]
8 Flag of Poland Poland EU member 125,000[26] 234,000[26] 21,300[26] 418,300 4.23 947 167[27] 75
9 Flag of Romania Romania EU member 75,000[28] 0[28] 79,900[28] 173,519 4.31 340 71 70
10 Flag of Serbia Serbia Potential EU candidate 74,500[29] 400,000[29] 40,000[29] 440,074,5 41 277 85 68
11 Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic EU member 57,050[30] 0[30] 5,600[31] 62,650 5.57 179[32] 52[17] 71[17]
12 Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands EU member 53,130[33] 32,200[33] 3,300[34] 88,630 3.24 119 115[17] 43[17]
13 Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria EU member 51,000[35] 303,000[35] 34,000[35] 385,450 7.85 590 80[17] 46[17]
14 Flag of Portugal Portugal EU member 44,900[36] 210,930[36] 25,600[37] 281,430 4.25 100 45
15 Flag of Belgium Belgium EU member 40,800[38] 100,500[38] 0[38] 141,300 3.94 132 68[17] 37[17]
16 Flag of Finland Finland EU member 36,700[39] 485,000[39] 3,100[40] 524,800 5.17 124 63
17 Flag of Austria Austria EU member 34,600[41] 72,000[41] N/A 106,600 4.23 237 16 3
18 Flag of Sweden Sweden EU member 33,900[42] 262,000[42] 35,000[43] 295,900 3.07 280 166[17] 41[17]
19 Flag of Hungary Hungary EU member 33,400[44] 90,300[44] 12,000[45] 135,700 3.31 180 55[17] 30[17]
20 Flag of Norway Norway EFTA member 27,600[46] 219,000[46] 29,400 276,000 5.79 136 57[47] 26
21 Flag of Slovakia Slovakia EU member 26,200[48] 20,000[48] 4,700[49] 50,900 4.05 457 27 24
22 Flag of Denmark Denmark EU member 22,880[50] 64,900[50] 61,500[50] 149,280 4.24 57[51] 60 15
23 Flag of Croatia Croatia EU candidate 21,200[52] 12000[52] 0[53] 33,200 6.63 200 8[17] 28[17]
24 Flag of Lithuania Lithuania EU member 13,510[54] 309,200[54] 14,390[54] 33,100 3.53 2[55] 24[55]
25 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland EFTA member 12,900[56] 320,600[56] 23,270[56] 347,470 47.90 556 87
26 Flag of the Republic of Macedonia Republic of Macedonia EU candidate 12,850[57] 60,000[57] 7,600[57] 80,450 6.28 31[58] 10
27 Flag of Ireland Republic of Ireland EU member 10,500[59] 14,000[59] 0[59] 24,500 5.78 0 0[17] 12[17]
28 Flag of Cyprus Cyprus EU member 10,000[60] 60,000[60] 750[60] 70,750 12.80 41[61] 12
29 Flag of Slovenia Slovenia EU member 9,000[62] 20,000[62] 4,500[63] 33,500 1.21 84 0 12
30 Flag of Estonia Estonia EU member 5,700[64] 39,000[64] 11,000[64] 55,700 4.13 0 0
31 Flag of Latvia Latvia EU member 5,500[65] 14,050[65] 3,200[65] 22,750 2.13 3 0 3[66]
32 Flag of Malta Malta EU member 2,140[67] 0[67] 0[67] 2,140 5.37 0 0
33 Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg EU member 900[68] 0[68] 612[68] 1,512 1.92 0 0 3
Total 8,405,876 17141 3993 1593
  • 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

See also

v • d • e
Militaries of European Union member states

References

  1. ^ "European - United States Defence Expenditure in 2005" (HTML). EDA (2006). Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
  2. ^ Microsoft Word - 080127 guide.doc
  3. ^ Merkel's European Army: More Than a Paper Tiger? by Peter C. Glover, World Politics Review, 2007-04-25.
  4. ^ EU military at Bastille Day celebration
  5. ^ Solana raises prospect of EU soldiers in Georgia EU Observer
  6. ^ a b "Country Facts, Turkey" (2008-07-31). 
  7. ^ "Turkey's Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 33)" (2006-07-25). 
  8. ^ a b "http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/westmb012302%5B1%5D.pdf Western Military Balance and Defense Efforts (Page 30, Tanks in Army Forces in 2001)]" (January 2002). 
  9. ^ MilAvia Press, Order of Battle - Turkey
  10. ^ "III.pdf Annuaire statistique de la Défense, p.47" (December 2006). 
  11. ^ "French Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 112)" (2006-09-27). 
  12. ^ "French Paramilitary Forces, Tiscali Encyclopedia" (2006-07-25). 
  13. ^ a b French Military Aviation
  14. ^ "German Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 32)" (2006-07-25). 
  15. ^ "German Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 117)" (2006-09-27). 
  16. ^ "German Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 14)" (2006-07-25). 
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, Aviation Week & Space Technology, 15 January 2007.
  18. ^ a b "Italian Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 124)" (2006-09-27). 
  19. ^ "Italian Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 16)" (2006-07-25). 
  20. ^ a b c "British Armed Forces, UK MoD (Page 59)" (2006-09-23). 
  21. ^ a b British Military Aviation
  22. ^ a b "Spanish Military" (2006-07-25). 
  23. ^ "Spanish Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT" (2006-07-25). 
  24. ^ a b c "Greek Military" (2006-07-25). 
  25. ^ a b Greek Aircraft Inventory
  26. ^ a b c "Polish Military" (2006-07-25). 
  27. ^ Polish Defence Ministry
  28. ^ a b c "Romanian Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  29. ^ a b c "Serbian Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  30. ^ a b "Czech Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 109)" (2006-09-27). 
  31. ^ "Czech Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 11)" (2006-07-25). 
  32. ^ Czech Republic Equipment
  33. ^ a b "Dutch Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 127)" (2006-09-27). 
  34. ^ "Uzbek Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  35. ^ a b c "Bulgarian Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  36. ^ a b "Portuguese Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  37. ^ "Portuguese's Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 25)" (2006-07-25). 
  38. ^ a b c "Belgium Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  39. ^ a b "Finnish Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  40. ^ "Finland's Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 15)" (2006-07-25). 
  41. ^ a b "Austrian Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  42. ^ a b "Swedish Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  43. ^ "Bantat hemvärn får massiv kritik" (2008-05-22). 
  44. ^ a b "Hungarian Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 120)" (2006-09-27). 
  45. ^ "Hungarian Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 15)" (2006-07-25). 
  46. ^ a b "Norwegian Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  47. ^ [1]
  48. ^ a b "Slovak Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  49. ^ "Slovakia Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 22)" (2006-07-25). 
  50. ^ a b c "Danish Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  51. ^ Financial report for the Danish Military
  52. ^ a b "Croatian Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  53. ^ "Croatian Paramilitary Forces, ORBAT (Page 10)" (2006-07-25). 
  54. ^ a b c "Lithuanian Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  55. ^ a b Lithuanian Air Force
  56. ^ a b c "Swiss Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 139)" (2006-07-25). 
  57. ^ a b c "Macedonian Armed Forces" (2006-07-25). 
  58. ^ Military of FYROM
  59. ^ a b c "Ireland Armed Forces" (2006-07-25).