WRITTEN QUESTION E-2427/00

by Jeffrey Titford (EDD) to the Council

(24 July 2000)

Subject: European Union military rapid reaction force

1. What plan does the Council have for creating a military rapid reaction force?

2. Can the Council indicate:

(a) Who would decide how this Rapid Reaction Force is used?

(b) How many troops will be deployed?

(c) How many other military personnel will be deployed in addition to the troops?

(d) As for troops and ancillary personnel from the United Kingdom, they currently swear an Oath of Loyalty to the British Queen and the Crown. To whom will they bear allegiance when fighting within the European Union Rapid Reaction Force?

(e) Might there be a conflict between the Oath of Loyalty given by British military personnel to the Queen and any Oath of Loyalty that they may have to swear for the Rapid Reaction Force?

(f) What disciplinary arrangements have been made for the Rapid Reaction Force and ancillary personnel?

(g) Will disciplinary matters within the Rapid Reaction Force be dealt with by the national governments, or by the European Union?

Reply

(10 November 2000)

1. The principles and general guidelines relating to a rapid reaction force were adopted by the Heads of State and of Government at the Helsinki European Council. Those decisions envisage inter alia that Member States should be able by 2003 to deploy within 60 days military forces of up to 50 000 to 60 000 capable of the full range of Petersberg tasks and to sustain such a deployment for at least one year. That objective is known as the headline goal. The European Council also envisaged that it should be possible to deploy smaller rapid response elements to which the Honourable Member alludes at very high readiness well within that 60-day period. The Helsinki European Council also stipulated that the Member States would cooperate voluntarily in EU-led operations and emphasised that that process did not imply the creation of a European army.

2. The European Council in Santa Maria Da Feira noted the progressive development of the interim Political and Security Committee and the interim military bodies and structures established at Helsinki the Military Body, which is to become the European Union Military Committee, and the military experts, who are to become the European Union Military Staff. The Council noted that the principles and modalities have been defined for the arrangements needed to allow European members of NATO which are not EU Member States and other EU applicant countries to contribute to EU military crisis management. It also invited all the EU's third country partners to contribute to the improvement of European capabilities.

3. The Nice European Council is to receive a report on preparations for that headline goal and for the collective objectives (i.e. command, control and intelligence capabilities, logistics and other support services) of military capabilities. That report is also to include the outcome of the Capabilities Commitment Conference on 20 November at which the individual Member States are to outline their national contribution offers and third countries may offer additional contributions. Preparatory work on the matter is focusing in particular on the definition of the list of forces for Petersberg operations led by the European Union. That work is progressing well within the Council's new military structures and bodies, calling, where necessary, on the assistance of NATO experts.

4. It is for the Council to decide on the initiation of an operation using military forces. As with all decisions having military or defence implications, the Council acts unanimously (Article 23 TEU). The decision taken by each of the representatives of the Member States meeting within the Council is a sovereign national decision. Furthermore, each Member State will decide in full sovereignty whether or not to contribute through its national forces. There can therefore be no question of conflicting loyalties facing national troops when they are part of a multinational contingent in an operation led by the European Union. Contrary to the Honourable Member's fears, such troops will not need to swear any additional oath before joining a multinational force.

5. The number of troops deployed depends on the type of operation. It should be borne in mind that the Union must be capable of conducting all the types of operation provided for in Article 17(2) of the TUE. However, the military implications are variable throughout such operations: in particular, the numbers involved will be smaller where, for example, the operation is one of humanitarian assistance to refugees or displaced persons or an evacuation mission, whereas they will be larger where the mission involves restoring peace, implying the need to separate the conflicting parties by force.

6. Disciplinary provisions have not yet been discussed in the Council's subordinate bodies. In the event of deployment in a multinational force, each person is usually subject to national disciplinary provisions, as is, moreover, personnel under the responsibility of the national command structure of each State, represented by the highest-ranking officer of that State.