Behold a European Foreign Policy (Andrew Duff MEP)

Andrew Duff MEP <info@andrewduffmep.org.uk>

Behold a European Foreign Policy

April 11, 2008 6:00 PM
By Andrew Duff MEP in ft.com

At last week's Nato summit in Bucharest (3-4 April) the European Union asserted itself under Franco-German leadership.

It rebuffed US attempts to admit Georgia and Ukraine to the Euro-Atlantic family.

At the same time, it stood up to Russian opposition to a new anti-missile shield on Czech and Polish territory.

Earlier in the year, the EU decided to supervise Kosovan independence - again, against Russia's wishes. Although the decision on Kosovo was not unanimous, the dissenting minority chose to abstain constructively rather than to block the effort.

Now, surprising (perhaps) even itself, the EU has confounded hard-liners in Washington and Moscow by deciding to revitalise Nato.

Here, the big swing has been made by France. President Nicolas Sarkozy is reversing General de Gaulle's 1966 decision to leave the military side of Nato. Next year French forces will re-integrate with their allies. "The more France takes its place in Nato," Mr Sarkozy explained, "the more European Nato becomes".

By way of an entrée, France is sending more combat troops to Afghanistan, relieving pressure on the Canadians in time for this year's fighting season.

The French initiative has won concessions from the US government. Russia will be consulted about the proposed anti-missile system, and the US will agree to revive the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

Above all, George W. Bush - evidently pushed by John McCain who hopes to succeed him as president - has changed his tune about the development of an EU dimension in defence. In Bucharest Mr Bush admitted that European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) was both "useful and necessary".

The final communique from Bucharest lauded the closer strategic partnership between Nato and the EU covering security, defence and crisis management, including the fight against terrorism, the development of coherent and mutually reinforcing military capabilities, and civil emergency planning. "We recognise the value that a stronger and more capable European defence brings," it said.

So how will EU-Nato relations now develop?

It would be a mistake to see future Nato membership as an automatic precursor of EU membership. For one thing, Union membership is more demanding and rigorous.