EUROPEAN DEFENCE COOPERATION The Advisory Council on International Affairs is an advisory body for the Dutch SOVEREIGNTY AND THE CAPACITY TO ACT government and parliament. In particular its reports address the policy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defence and the Minister for European Affairs and No. 78, January 2012 International Cooperation. The Council will function as un umbrella body with committees responsible for human rights, peace and security, development cooperation and European integration. While retaining expert knowledge in these areas, the aim of the Council is to integrate the provision of advice. Its staff are: Ms D.E. van Norren, T.D.J. Oostenbrink, J. Smallenbroek, A.D. Uilenreef and M.W.M. Waanders. ADVISORY COUNCIL ON INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS ADVISORY COUNCIL ON INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS P.O.BOX 20061, 2500 EB THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS ADVIESRAAD INTERNATIONALE VRAAGSTUKKEN TELEPHONE +31(0)70 348 5108/60 60 FAX +31(0)70 348 6256 AIV [email protected] WWW.AIV-ADVICE.NL Members of the Advisory Council on International Affairs Chair F. Korthals Altes Vice-chair Professor W.J.M. van Genugten Members Professor J. Gupta Dr P.C. Plooij-van Gorsel Professor A. de Ruijter Ms M. Sie Dhian Ho Professor A. van Staden Lt. Gen. M.L.M. Urlings (ret.) Ms H.M. Verrijn Stuart Professor J.J.C. Voorhoeve Executive Secretary T.D.J. Oostenbrink P.O. Box 20061 2500 EB The Hague The Netherlands Telephone + 31 70 348 5108/6060 Fax + 31 70 348 6256 [email protected] www.aiv-advice.nl Combined European Defence Cooperation Committee Chair Professor A. van Staden Vice-chair Lt. Gen. M.L.M. Urlings (ret.) Members Professor M.G.W. den Boer Professor J. Colijn Dr M. Drent Dr W.F. van Eekelen Dr B.T. van Ginkel Professor M. de Goede Dr A.R. Korteweg Dr C.M. Megens Lt. Gen. H.W.M. Satter (ret.) Professor J.G. Siccama Executive Secretary M.W.M. Waanders Contents Foreword Introduction 7 I Perspectives on defence cooperation 11 I.1 Sovereignty and defence cooperation 11 I.2 Multilateral defence cooperation 14 I.2.1 NATO capabilities initiatives 14 I.2.2 EU capabilities development 17 I.2.3 Regional defence cooperation 22 I.3 Bilateral partnerships 24 I.4 Other partnerships 27 II Lessons from European defence cooperation 31 II.1 Sovereignty, cooperation and the importance of the strategic culture 31 II.2 Joint maintenance of materiel 32 II.3 Standardisation as a multiplier of cooperation 32 II.4 The obstructive power of industrial and economic interests 33 II.5 No savings without investment 34 II.6 Greater emphasis on civil-military cooperation in the EU 34 II.7 Cooperation creates obligations 35 II.8 EU-NATO cooperation 35 II.9 Rapid reaction forces of the EU and NATO 36 III Deepening European defence cooperation 37 III.1 Top-down strategy for European security cooperation 37 III.2 Bottom-up approach to bilateral cooperation 38 III.3 Bilateral cooperation: with whom? 39 III.4 New possibilities for bilateral cooperation 42 III.5 Coordination of bilateral and multilateral cooperation 47 IV Conclusions and recommendations 48 Annexe I Request for advice Annexe II Definitions of terms Annexe III List of abbreviations Annexe IV List of persons consulted Foreword On 20 June 2011, the government asked the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) to produce an advisory report on deepening international defence cooperation by the Dutch armed forces. According to the request, cooperation should be deepened for the sake of European security and burden-sharing in the transatlantic partnership (political and strategic interest) and in order to end military shortfalls and keep military capability up to standard as far as possible (military interest). The government’s questions focus on the implications for national sovereignty of the various forms of defence cooperation and on the lessons that can be learned from multinational programmes in the past. Logically, the next question is about the future possibilities for defence cooperation with partner countries in a bilateral or multilateral context. It is also apparent from the request for advice that the government considers it important to improve cooperation between the EU and NATO. However, the AIV believes that this subject need not be dealt with at length in this report since it was considered in detail in the report published in January 2010 on NATO’s New Strategic Concept.1 Nonetheless, observations about relations between the two organisations will be made at various places in this report. The full text of the request for advice is included as an annexe. This report is structured as follows. The introduction starts by briefly describing the political context in which the present debate on European defence cooperation is being conducted. It goes on to list various forms of defence cooperation and raises a few important questions about sovereignty and dependence. Chapter I – Perspectives on defence cooperation – deals with a number of sovereignty issues connected with defence cooperation. It also examines the initiatives for capability enhancement that have been developed in NATO and the EU, as well as some regional and bilateral initiatives. Chapter II – Lessons from European defence cooperation – identifies the main lessons that can be learned from defence cooperation in Europe in practice. Chapter III – Deepening European defence cooperation – makes specific proposals for further measures to embed the Dutch armed forces in an international framework. Finally, in chapter IV – Conclusions and recommendations – the AIV considers the need for more far-reaching European defence cooperation and makes policy recommendations for a cohesive approach to this subject. The request for advice mentions both international and European defence cooperation. Since this advisory report places the emphasis on the latter, as is apparent from the structure outlined above, the AIV considered it appropriate to refer to European cooperation in the title. 1 AIV advisory report no. 67, ‘NATO’s New Strategic Concept’, The Hague, January 2010. In preparing this report the AIV set up a combined committee consisting of Professor A. van Staden (chair), Lieutenant General M.L.M. Urlings (ret.) (vice- chair), Professor M.G.W. den Boer, Professor J. Colijn, Dr M. Drent, Dr W.F. van Eekelen, Dr B.T. van Ginkel, Professor M. de Goede, Dr A.R. Korteweg, Dr C.M. Megens, Lieutenant General H.W.M. Satter (ret.) and Professor J.G. Siccama. The executive secretary was M.W.M. Waanders (secretary to the Peace and Security Committee), who was assisted by trainees Ms Q.J. Genee, R.J.H. van Altvorst and M.V. Buijs. The committee met seven times between July 2011 and January 2012. In September some of the members paid a working visit to Brussels in order to obtain information at first hand on current developments in the field of capability cooperation at the EU and NATO. The committee also held discussions with a number of experts in The Hague. Annexe IV lists the persons consulted. The AIV is very grateful to them for their contribution. The AIV adopted this report at its meeting on 27 January 2012. Introduction As a consequence of the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, major defence spending cuts will be made in large parts of Europe, including the Netherlands, in the next few years. The total defence expenditure of NATO’s European members shrank by €29 billion in 2009 and 2010 alone. This is equivalent to almost four times the Netherlands’ current annual defence budget.2 In the past it was apparent that the national approaches adopted by defence ministries to spending cuts often prevailed over a coherent European approach. European governments first decided independently to phase out or cut back on military capabilities, after which the consequences for joint military capability were discussed within NATO and the EU. And in decision-making on the current round of cuts in defence expenditure, there has once again been insufficient consultation or coordination between the European capitals. This last point is of particular concern. On this subject a former director of the European Defence Agency (EDA) said: ‘What is worrying is not so much the scale of cuts as the way they have been made: strictly on a national basis, without any attempt at consultation or coordination within either NATO or the EU, and with no regard to the overall defence capability which will result from the sum of these national decisions.’3 The financial crisis brings not only risks (shrinking defence budgets) but also a new challenge (deepening European defence cooperation). This is why the EU defence ministers have seized the opportunity presented by this crisis to breathe new life into the debate on European defence cooperation. In the autumn of 2010 they launched the Ghent Initiative, which is designed to identify the benefits of pooling and sharing military capabilities and a further deepening of defence cooperation. The main reasons for more defence cooperation between European countries are to improve military deployability and interoperability (more capable forces), combat unnecessary duplication of military assets, make expected cost savings, strengthen political ties, serve common interests and show solidarity among allies. The AIV notes in respect of the cost savings referred to above that more defence cooperation should not be seen as paving the way for new cuts in the defence budget. The AIV considers that the first question to be dealt with is what security risks Europe will face in the future and to what extent the EU must be able to operate independently of the United States if necessary in crisis situations. For the time being the EU will not be able to undertake large-scale military operations without an American contribution.4 As American foreign and security policy comes to focus more and more on Asia and the Pacific and the significance of the transatlantic relationship diminishes for the United States, Europe will increasingly often have to chart an independent course and assume 2 NATO Press Release, ‘Financial and Economic Data Relating to NATO Defence’, 10 March 2011.