23 out of 28 EU members today signed a declaration that they will PESCO. It will officially be signed into power in one month.
What PESCO is:
Well, other than being an abbreviation for "Permanent Structured Cooperation on security and defence". And apparently the italian word for "peach".
Legally it's an enactment of Article 46 of the Lisbon Treaty. This basically enacts a defence cooperation framework in which participating members have to fulfill a number of criteria - which for how PESCO was signed can be found here:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media...tification.pdf
Basically it copies a number of requirements over from NATO (defence budget increases aimed to go to 2%, R&D expenditure of 20% in military budget) - also some "considering to commit" stuff which is about as non-committal as with NATO. It omits a couple other NATO things (non-committal mutual defense, foremost) since that's already provided for by the Lisbon Treaty for the entirety of the EU. However it also embeds criteria for nations joining PESCO that are a bit more committing and going a bit further than with NATO:
and a couple more like that.
What's really funny about PESCO is how it is portrayed in different EU nations. In Germany it is hailed as finally resurrecting the defence union that France denied us back in '54, in Ireland they're really, really trying to express the notion that this "does not establish a European Army". The British tabloid press calls it just that of course. The communists in the Portuguese parliament in a somewhat bizarre version call it becoming auxiliary troops under German control in order to either fight Russia or to slaughter refugees.
Who didn't join PESCO:
Portugal and Ireland will likely both join up in the next four weeks, i.e. before it goes "official".
In the end it's pretty much a Franco-German military alliance that requires everyone else to pull along; that also led to a little tug-of-war: Germany wanted as many EU members as possible to join, France wanted to shut out those that would disturb the process and interfere. For this reason Poland also only decided to join this weekend.
What PESCO is:
PESCO is a Treaty-based framework and process to deepen defence cooperation amongst EU Member States who are capable and willing to do so. The aim is to jointly develop defence capabilities and make them available for EU military operations. This will thus enhance the EU’s capacity as an international security partner, also contributing to protection of Europeans and maximise the effectiveness of defence spending.
The difference between PESCO and other forms of cooperation is the binding nature of the commitments undertaken by participating Member States. However, participation remains voluntary and decision-making will remain in the hands of participating Member States.
The difference between PESCO and other forms of cooperation is the binding nature of the commitments undertaken by participating Member States. However, participation remains voluntary and decision-making will remain in the hands of participating Member States.
Legally it's an enactment of Article 46 of the Lisbon Treaty. This basically enacts a defence cooperation framework in which participating members have to fulfill a number of criteria - which for how PESCO was signed can be found here:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media...tification.pdf
Basically it copies a number of requirements over from NATO (defence budget increases aimed to go to 2%, R&D expenditure of 20% in military budget) - also some "considering to commit" stuff which is about as non-committal as with NATO. It omits a couple other NATO things (non-committal mutual defense, foremost) since that's already provided for by the Lisbon Treaty for the entirety of the EU. However it also embeds criteria for nations joining PESCO that are a bit more committing and going a bit further than with NATO:
- "Making available formations, that are strategically deployable, for the realization of the EU LoA, in addition to a potential deployment of an EUBG."
- "Substantially contributing to EU BG by confirmation of contributions in principle at least four years in advance, with a stand-by period in line with the EU BG concept, obligation to carry out EU BG exercises for the EU BG force
package (framework nation) and/or to participate in these exercises (all EU Member States participating in EU BG)." - "Help to overcome capability shortcomings identified under the Capability Development Plan (CDP) and CARD. These capability projects shall increase Europe’s strategic autonomy and strengthen the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB)."
- No quietly sitting by either: "Take part in at least one project under the PESCO which develops or provides capabilities identified as strategically relevant by Member States."
and a couple more like that.
What's really funny about PESCO is how it is portrayed in different EU nations. In Germany it is hailed as finally resurrecting the defence union that France denied us back in '54, in Ireland they're really, really trying to express the notion that this "does not establish a European Army". The British tabloid press calls it just that of course. The communists in the Portuguese parliament in a somewhat bizarre version call it becoming auxiliary troops under German control in order to either fight Russia or to slaughter refugees.
Who didn't join PESCO:
- Malta, since it considers itself neutral - armed neutral
- Ireland, since it pretends to be neutral and has to have a discussion first
- Portugal, since it needs to qualm the communists supporting the government first
- Denmark, since it is legally not allowed to join any sort of defence cooperation
- the UK, for being the UK
Portugal and Ireland will likely both join up in the next four weeks, i.e. before it goes "official".
In the end it's pretty much a Franco-German military alliance that requires everyone else to pull along; that also led to a little tug-of-war: Germany wanted as many EU members as possible to join, France wanted to shut out those that would disturb the process and interfere. For this reason Poland also only decided to join this weekend.
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