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– EuroArmy...For Peace or
War?
EU aims to be military superpower
Anthony Browne in Brussels
AMID a trans-Atlantic row over its determination to resume arms sales to
China, the European Union has outlined plans to become a military
superpower and close the defence technology gap on the US.
The EU would develop unmanned drones, new armoured vehicles and advanced
communication systems, the British head of the newly created European
Defence Agency said.
EDA chief executive Nick Witney said the 25-nation EU would establish a
joint fighter-pilot training program and co-ordinate the testing of
military equipment.
The initiatives represent the EU's first step in military research and
development.
They are aimed at transforming the EU from being a political power, in
charge of policies such as agriculture and trade, to a military one,
capable of sending troops around the world to enforce a foreign policy
agreed by its member states.
The strategy is controversial. EU members such as Ireland and Sweden
fear their traditional neutrality is being threatened, while in Britain
there has been concern that the initiative will undermine NATO and its
close military relationship with the US.
Moves to turn Europe into a military superpower will also heighten
concerns in Washington over the EU's plans to lift a 15-year-old arms
embargo on China. US President George W.Bush and congressional leaders
from both parties presented a united front yesterday in opposition to
the plan for renewed arms sales.
The US Congress has warned it will consider retaliatory trade action
against European countries that start selling military technology to
China, a move Washington fears would threaten Taiwan and US troops in
the region.
Resuming arms sales to China "is a non-starter with Congress", Joseph
Biden, senior Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, said
after a meeting with Mr Bush.
Republican senator Richard Lugar said that if the embargo were lifted,
Congress might impose "a prohibition on a great number of technical
skills and materials, or products, being available to Europeans".
Mr Witney explained his plans to boost Europe's "defence, technological
and industrial base" by co-ordinating EU members' military activity.
"Europe does not have the defence capabilities that it ought to. I want
to see what we can do to get more bang for the buck and I am sure we can
go a long way applying all the separate defence lines across Europe more
coherently," he said.
Concern about Europe's military weakness came to the fore in the 1990s
when it was unable to prevent civil war in the Balkans. Since then, the
EU has been developing a common foreign policy and has set up the EDA to
increase its military power.
Mr Witney said Europe's armies, as well as being fragmented, had failed
to move "to the information age" of warfare.
"Is it really useful that we spend money in Europe maintaining in
service 11,000 main battle tanks? Just what do we think we are going to
do with those?" he said. "Would it not be better to concentrate on more
modern technologies such as communication?"
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