Although the admittedly high profile efforts of the President of the EU Commission Ms Ursula von der Leyen to create a momentum to strengthen the geopolitical role of the EU, the results are limited.
- The necessity of implementation of the new agreement on migration and the asylum promoted by the EU does not find a response from the governments of member countries and the European Parliament. The issue is a matter of trust between member countries in terms of the best possible management of migration.
- Regarding the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Ursula von der Leyen stated that the EU should be able and willing to do more things in such cases but she avoided making specific commitments. The only reference was made to the need for member countries to improve their cooperation in monitoring developments issues, information, the possibility of military cooperation and understanding of the risks in the wider area of EU.
At the same time the President EU Commission asked to create an European cyber-defense policy. Her proposal to strengthen the military and defense agreement was the exemption from VAT on the supply of weapons systems produced in the EU from its member countries.
- The President of the Commission announced that the European Defense Summit would take place during the French Presidency of the Council.
The “embankment” for the creation of Euroarmy
Germany is the EU member country, which is very sceptical for the common European defense issues. In particular, the German political world does not want an increase in Germany’s defense spending within NATO to reach 2% of GDP, with the country’s parallel participation in European Defense. They can agree on the need for the EU to move in the direction of European Defense, but they avoid to commit in that direction.
Germany, the most economically powerful member country of the European Union, does not dare to move towards a common European Defense. All they will accept is the creation of a joint European intervention force, and in this way they will be relieved of the obligation to increase defense spending.
Only France has serious power projection capabilities outside European Union and its political system can manage communication and politically the cost of any losses military of.
For historical and political reasons it is very difficult for the German political world to follow France in this field. The loss of German Armed Forces personnel in operations outside EU considered politically unthinkable in Germany.
Germany’s holistic strategy focuses only on economic cooperation, as it has the strongest competitive advantage in the world. It avoids in any way to cause problems in the operation of its economy.
Germany completed gas pipeline Nord stream 2 with Russia and generally opposed to a military encirclement of China, which in this case would cause problem in its trade-economic cooperation with China.
