From exception to facilitator: what place for France in the EU/NATO partnership in the post-Cold War global world?
Tóm tắt
In the wake of WWII, the historical legacy of the last 65 years has led the Europeans to organise their defence in the transatlantic framework through NATO, and in the European Union (EU) through Common Foreign and Security Policy/Common Security and Defense Policy. Despite the reiterated wish to make the two organisations complementary, this has not been achievable so far because of their different natures and formats. While the US ally has been moving its strategy to the East (Asia-Pacific), the Europeans have been urged to take on a larger part of their security burden. This cannot be achieved by individual nations, however, and pushes for deeper integration of European defence (namely pooling and sharing). The enhancement of European capabilities within the EU is likely to be the only way to keep up the transatlantic partnership in the twenty-first century, and France has a key role to play towards this objective.
Tài liệu tham khảo
In the wake of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) initiated in 1951, the European Economic Community (EEC) saw the day in 1957, followed by the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1958.
‘Treaty on European Union’ (92/C 191/01), February 7, 1992, https://doi.org/eur-lex.europa.eu/en/treaties/dat/11992M/htm/11992M.html#0001000001.
The Petersberg Declaration signed at the Bonn Western European Union Council of Ministers on 19 June 1992 vowed ‘to enhance the CSCE’s capabilities for conflict prevention, crisis management, and the peaceful settlement of disputes […], including peacekeeping activities of the CSCE or the United Nations Security Council’. Specifically, ‘military units of WEU member states […] could be employed for humanitarian and rescue tasks; peacekeeping tasks; tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacekeeping’, https://doi.org/www.weu.int/documents/920619peten.pdf.
This American attitude was illustrated by Madeleine Albright’s declaration introducing the ‘3 Ds’: no duplication, no decoupling and no discrimination against NATO’s non-EU countries.
NATO’s latest Strategic Concept was also agreed upon in Lisbon, in conclusion to the summit held there in November 2010.
See the article in the Lisbon Treaty allowing member-states determined to move forward faster with the PSDC to do it.
The ‘Group of Experts’ was a high level working group tasked by the NATO Secretary General, and composed of 12 member state Representatives. It was chaired by Madeleine Albright who delivered recommendations in preparation for the new NATO Strategic Concept (May 2010).
Denmark has opted out and does not participate in the CSDP.