David Cameron and Nicholas Sarkozy this week signed a historic 50-year treaty designed to vitalize defense and security cooperation between Britain and France.
As previously noted, the impetus for the treaty originates from Britain’s need to redress foreseen “structural” defense procurement shortages within the Ministry of Defence.
(see: “When Great Powers Decline…” http://powerpolitics.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/10/27/17/)
At the heart of the treay lies the provision for a joint expeditionary force consisting of up to 10,000 troops. Equally important, moreover, is the provision which will allow for Britain and France to pool the sharing of Carrier Strike Groups – still largely considered the 21st equivalent to the long-extinct “battleship” of yesteryear. The agreement will also allow for the pooling of strategic airlift capabilities, such as the A400M, and for research cooperation into a sweeping range of military technologies.
On another note, Britain and France agreed to an entirely separate treaty which would allow for joint cooperation into nuclear research.
Britain and France currently hold the third and fourth largest defense budgets in the world, with their combined military expenditure making up roughly half of the European Union’s total defense spending.
When viewed largely, it is important to highlight that these developments are largely the result of geopolitical trends which have been building momentum since the end of the Cold War – specifically, global trends toward regional integration. Moreover, the concept of an integrated European defense force can be traced to as far back as the Brussels Treaty of 1948.
While multilateral attempts to implement a common defense force for the EU have by and large met with failure, it is perhaps this most recent agreement, endorsed by two core contributing members to European security and defense burden sharing, which may ultimately provide the catalyst for a truly pan-European defense force.
