The Armed Forces of the European Union, 2012–2013

SECTION 1 – BACKGROUND TO EUROPEAN DEFENCE

In 1951, six years after Europe was devastated by the Second World War, the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed that France and West Germany combine their coal and steel industries under an independent, supranational authority. These two nations were joined by Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands who established the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) following the signing of the Treaty of Paris. The ECSC began operating in 1952 and its obvious success led to discussions at Messina in Italy during 1955 for further moves towards European economic integration. As a result of these negotiations the Treaty of Rome was signed in March 1957 establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) with the original six members of the ECSC becoming the founding members.

The Treaty of Rome was intended to create a customs union which would allow the free movement of goods, people, capital and services between member states. The treaty also established a common external trade policy and common policies for both agriculture and fisheries. Other articles of the treaty were concerned with preventing the distortion of competition within the Community, the coordination of national economic policies, the humanisation of social policy, and the association of overseas countries with the European Community to increase trade and assist with economic and social development. In addition the signing of the Treaty of Rome established the Community’s institutional structure as follows:

(1) The European Commission

(2) The European Council of Ministers

(3) The European Parliament

(4) The European Court of Justice

(5) The Economic and Social Committee

(6) The European Investment Bank

In May 1969 the heads of state of the six original EEC members met at The Hague and decided to widen the scope of the Community. In accordance with the decisions made at the Hague, the Council of Ministers of the by now European Community (EC) agreed that from 1975 the European Community would have its own revenue independent of national contributions. This revenue would be collected from customs duties and agricultural import levies collected at the EC external frontiers and a percentage of national receipts from Value Added Taxes (VAT).

In December 1991 the heads of the EC member states met at Maastricht in the Netherlands to chart the way ahead for the Community during the next decade. At Maastricht it was decided that the EC would work towards the following:

(1) An evolving Federal Structure

(2) European currency union

(3) Some form of joint foreign and defence policy in a European Union

On 1 January 2002 the Euro was introduced and adopted as its national currency by a majority of countries in the European Union (EU).

In October 2004 the EU countries signed a treaty establishing the European Constitution that was designed to streamline decision-making and management in what was by then the 25 member nations of the European Union. After a period of reflection due to citizens in some European countries voting ‘No’ to the proposed Constitution in national referendums it was not until the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon in December 2007 that the Constitutional Treaty (as amended) was finally accepted. In December 2009 the Lisbon Treaty was finally activated.

By 2010 the original six members of the ECSC had become the following 27 members of the European Union:

Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; Cyprus (Greek part); Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Romania, Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; United Kingdom.

General Information – Population and Area

General Information – Financial

Notes:

(1) Source for the majority of the figures is the International Monetary Fund. Exchange rates between currencies are calculated at mid 2010 rates.

(2) Figures are rounded up to the nearest whole number.

(3) All EU Governments are facing financial problems and it would be realistic to assume that almost all of the above defence budgets will fall by at least 20 per cent during 2011.

(4) The above figures are not authoritative and had been taken from a number of sources. Many EU countries use different accounting systems to show their defence budgets and the above figures should only be treated as a reasonable guide.

General Information – Armed Forces Personnel

Note: In the ’Central’ column figures for Italy include 107.000 Carabinieri. Figures for Luxembourg include 600 Gendarmes and figures for Netherlands include 5,900 Royal Military Constabulary - all under the control of the Ministry of Defence.

General Information – Major Army Formations and Equipment Available (Estimate)

Notes:

(1) This is our estimate of the number of combat brigades that could be operational within 21 days in each of the above Land Forces. This table does not show the number of combat brigades that might be available for rapid deployment outside of national boundaries.

(2) The figure for Attack Helicopters shows aircraft specifically designed for land attack operations such as AH-64 Apache, Tiger and Mi-24. It does not show armed helicopters designed for other roles and mounting machine guns and/or ATGW. In some cases these Attack Helicopters are under Air Force Command and not an integral part of the Land Forces.

General Information – Maritime Assets

Notes:

(1) Submarine figures include 3 x French Strategic Nuclear vessels and 4 x UK Strategic Nuclear vessels.

(2) It would be realistic to assume that at least 40 per cent of the above vessels would be in refit or extended maintenance at any one time.

(3) UK aircraft carriers were withdrawn from service in December 2010.

General Information – Aviation Assets

Note: Many of the air to air refuelling (AAR) aircraft are dual capable for both transport and air to air refuelling.

International Comparisons – Population and Area

International Comparisons – Financial

International Comparisons – Personnel

Notes:

(1) This figure is for the United States Marine Corps (USMC).

(2) This figure is for the Chinese Strategic Missile Force.

(3) Japanese Central Command and Support personnel.

(4) This figure is for Command and Support personnel - approximately 80,000 Strategic Missile Force personnel are included in the figure for the Russian Air Force.

(5) Figures do not include paramilitary personnel and US figures do not include approximately 42,000 US Coastguard personnel.

(6) The figures in the above table should Ioe treated as a reasonable guide to overall personnel totals and not as an authority.

International Comparison – Major Army Formations and Equipment Available (Estimate)

Note: (1) Numbers in this column include Armoured, Mechanised, Infantry, Motorised, Airborne, Air Assault and Amphibious Brigades.

(2) Figure for the US include USMC Brigades and equipment.

(3) Overall numbers in this table are averages over a number of sources.

International Comparisons – Major Naval Vessels

Notes:

(1) Figures for submarines include both attack submarines and strategic nuclear submarines.

(2) US figures include 22 x Ticonderoga Aegis Cruisers.

(3) Russian Figure includes 5 x Cruisers.

(4) These aircraft carriers are smaller and less capable than their US counterparts.

(5) About half of the EU frigates are probably in refit or extended maintenance at any one time. Expect other nations to have similar totals of vessels that are not available for operations.

International Comparisons – Air Force Assets

Notes:

(1) Figure includes. US Air Force, US Navy and US Marine Corps Aviation aircraft.

(2) Figures are for US Active Force Aircraft.

(3) All other figures include Naval Aviation.

INFORMATION RELATING TO THE TABLES

Sources

A variety of sources were used to identify and where possible to verify both the order of battle and the inventory of individual nations. The most important and usually the most accurate source of information was the Ministries of Defence of the nations concerned, some of whom provided us with considerable unclassified information. This core information was then compared with a variety of other sources many of which were contradictory, and where possible we have used our experience and a certain amount of common sense, to provide what we believe is a reasonably accurate account of each nation’s defence assets.

Personnel

Personnel figures are constantly changing and the figures that we provide are to the best of our knowledge accurate as at mid 2010. However, many countries are downsizing their conventional Armed Forces for a variety of reasons, amongst which are the lack of a perceived external threat and the impact of the financial crisis.

Equipment numbers

These numbers are derived from a variety of sources which include some figures published by individual Ministries of Defence. They cannot be 100% accurate and should be treated as a guide. Many of the figures are our own estimates, especially when we know that some older systems had been placed in longer term storage.

Exchange Rates

The monetary units used throughout this book are Euros and US dollars using a mid 2010 exchange rate of 1.22 US Dollars to one Euro. The majority of financial figures are taken from the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports.

One billion = 1,000 million

One trillion = 1,000 billion

Current Unit Deployments

In general terms, under Current Unit Deployments we list the detail for deployments that involve at least a platoon sized organisation – approximately 30 personnel.

EUROPEAN DEFENCE OVERVIEW

Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union represents the governments of the Union’s 27 nations in the legislature of the European Union. Each nation provides one minister whose portfolio includes the subject being discussed. In the case of defence – the ministers responsible would attend (in company with their own National European Commissioner). The other legislative body is the European Parliament.

European Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)

The EU CSDP is the successor to what used to be known as the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). As such the CSDP is an important component of the EU’s Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and provides the framework for policy and plans relating to all aspects of European defence and security.

CSDP Objectives – EU Helsinki Headline Goal 2010

The EU has adopted the following illustrative scenarios which form the basis for force planning to meet the EU Helsinki Headline Goal 2010 proposals:

Stabilisation, reconstruction and military advice to third world countries

Separation of parties by force

Assistance to humanitarian operations

Conflict Prevention

Evacuation Operations in a non-permissive environment

To ensure that the requirements of the CSDP and the objectives of the Headline Goal 2010 are met, the following command and planning elements have been established:

European Political and Security Committee (PSC)

The PSC keeps track of the requirements of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy and defines how those requirements can be incorporated into the Common Security and Defence Policy. Reporting to the Council of the EU the PSC is composed of EU Ambassadors who have the responsibility for providing a coherent response to a crisis or emergency.

European Union Military Committee (EUMC)

Under the leadership of its current Chairman General Hakan Syren (Sweden) the EUMC is composed of the Chiefs of Defence of the EU member nations. Under normal circumstances these Chiefs of Defence are represented by officers seconded to the EUMC from each of the EU member nations. The EUMC provides advice and recommendations on all aspects of EU security and defence matters to the PSC.

Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management (CIVCOM)

This committee works closely with the EUMC and provides the PSC with information and recommendations relating to all civilian aspects of crisis and emergency management.

CHAIRMAN OF THE EUROPEAN MILITARY COMMITTEE

General Hakan Syren

General Hakan Syren was born on 31 January 1952 in Vaxjo, Sweden. He graduated in 1973 from the Swedish Naval Academy as Lieutenant in the Coast Artillery. His military education includes the Staff Course and the Command and General Staff Course at the Swedish War College in Stockholm. It also includes the Naval Command Course at the US Naval War College in Newport, USA.

General Syren was appointed as the Chairman of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) in Brussels in November 2009. Before taking up his present position, General Syren was Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces for more than five years. His career also includes four years as Chief of Joint Military Intelligence and Security.

Career

In parallel with the positions within the Armed Forces, General Syrén also served as ADC to His Majesty the King of Sweden from 1988 to 1996. He is member of the Royal Society of Naval Sciences and of the Royal Academy of War Sciences.

General Syren will probably serve as the Chairman of the European Union Military Committee for a period of three years.

European Union Military Staff (EUMS)

Working directly to the Chairman of the EUMC the staff is composed of military and civilian personnel who are responsible for planning and coordination of EU security and defence objectives within the framework of the CSDP.

EU Operations Centre

During January 2007, the EU Operations Centre was established in Brussels. This Headquarters can command a small force of about 2,000 troops (possibly a Battlegroup).

In addition to the EU Operations Centre, there are 5 x national operational headquarters which have been made available for use by the EU. These are:

Mont Valerien (Paris)

Northwood (London)

Potsdam (Berlin)

Centocelle ((Rome)

Larissa (Greece)

For example: EUFOR’s Democratic Republic of the Congo mission