PESCO EU Defense Pact

[spmetla]

Twenty-five EU states sign PESCO defense pact
The European Council has adopted the decision to establish a European Union defense pact, known as PESCO. The 25 participating EU states are set to begin working on a series of joint-defense projects next year.
European Union member states on Monday moved ever closer toward establishing a defense union, after the European Council adopted the creation of a new European defense and security cooperation network known as PESCO.

The Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), which was first set out in the Lisbon Treaty, will allow member states to jointly develop military capabilities, invest in shared projects and enhance their respective armed forces.

Read more: Can PESCO provide a new European identity?

European defense ministers from 23 member states had initially signed a joint notification on PESCO on November 13, and handed it over for review to the EU's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, and the European Council.
On December 7, Portugal and Ireland announced their decision to join, taking the total number of contributing members up to 25. The countries that have chosen not to take part are Malta, Denmark - which has special opt-out status - and the UK (which is set to withdraw from the bloc in March 2019).

Mogherini, described the move as "historic," while European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker hailed the move on Twitter, posting: "She is awake, the Sleeping Beauty of the Lisbon Treaty: Permanent Structured Cooperation is happening."
Although PESCO remains an intergovernmental program, the Commission said in a press release that it will prop up the network via its European Defense Fund. Money is set to be assigned for the acquisition of new defense equipment and technology, as well as to finance grants for research projects.

17 joint defense projects

Officials have earmarked 17 joint projects that will fall under the scope of the PESCO agreement. These include establishing a pan-European military training center, improving capability development and even introducing common standards for military radio communication.
Germany is to take the lead on four projects: the creation of a pan-European medical unit, a logistics hub, a center for training missions and an initiative to build up faster crisis response forces.

Those projects are expected to be formally adopted early next year, with participating countries also invited to propose additional programs.

http://www.dw.com/en/twenty-five-eu-...act/a-41741828

While I'm more than happy for Europe to take it's defense into greater consideration this seems to be the first step toward an actual EU military or toward military alliance about which I have mixed feelings. As of now this is supposed to be mostly for greater standardization between the different nations. Most of the EU nations though are NATO allies and as such have NATO standards they follow so does this create a parallel bureaucracy that will eventually create a redundancy of efforts?
Also, as this is the first step it does create questions for the neutral nations in the EU (Ireland, Austria, Finland, Malta) with only Malta and Denmark opting out. In the future an EU nation could be drawn into a NATO war that would possibly draw in a neutral nation (not with the current framework but hypothetical future frameworks).

[Seamus Fermanagh]

http://www.dw.com/en/twenty-five-eu-...act/a-41741828

While I'm more than happy for Europe to take it's defense into greater consideration this seems to be the first step toward an actual EU military or toward military alliance about which I have mixed feelings. As of now this is supposed to be mostly for greater standardization between the different nations. Most of the EU nations though are NATO allies and as such have NATO standards they follow so does this create a parallel bureaucracy that will eventually create a redundancy of efforts?
Also, as this is the first step it does create questions for the neutral nations in the EU (Ireland, Austria, Finland, Malta) with only Malta and Denmark opting out. In the future an EU nation could be drawn into a NATO war that would possibly draw in a neutral nation (not with the current framework but hypothetical future frameworks).

Seems pretty clear to me that they are standing up an EU force that could, at need, supplant NATO. Over time, it could well become a genuine EU military that replaces all but the traditional guard forces of the member states.

On the other hand, supplanting NATO would not accomplish the "yanks bleeding on day one this time" NATO mission should Ursus Russicanus get all shirty again.

[Furunculus]

It's pretty clear to me that PESCO is a pointless vacuity.

An effective foriegn policy is absolutely dependent on two factors: capability, and will.

Pooling capability is great, but right here in this instance it only really masks the fact that continental states aren't willing to fund Defence properly.

The will part is the real kicker though; if you can never achieve consensus on deploying the capability then you are paying for a uniformed pension service.

Elective warfare is the most divisive and difficult of decisions, i've seen nothing of the EU that leads me to believe europe is capable of making them.

[rory_20_uk]

Given the vast disparity in the amount the USA invests in the military and Europe does, unless Europe wants to double their military spending this is a bad idea if it might risk the end of NATO.

If Europe wants to stand on its own two feet and invest the money that this would require then so be it.

[Fragony]

It isn't there to protect Europe, but to protect the EU. The EU will make sure that EU-soldiers can't be stationed in their country of origin so there is no emotional tie with the place they are and the people that live there

[Pannonian]

It isn't there to protect Europe, but to protect the EU. The EU will make sure that EU-soldiers can't be stationed in their country of origin so there is no emotional tie with the place they are and the people that live there

Never mind. Britain will veto this as one of the biggest, vitallest, most importantest members.