The consequences of the EU enlargement on the European policy of defense : the impacts on the transatlantic relations

Résumé du document

The Iraq crisis and the intra-divisions concerning the conflict have clearly indicated that it was difficult to establish a common point of view. Each country was ready to assert its opinion, regarding its position in the EU and its personal relations with the US. Even countries that were not in the Union tried to establish a "European position? on the war in Iraq (e.g., Poland). With the enlargement of the EU, the conception and the elaboration of the European defense policy will have to be reconsidered and along with the question of the relation with the US. We may wonder what will be the impacts of the enlargement on the transatlantic relations concerning the defense policy. In the first part, I will briefly describe the history and the background of the European defense policy. Then the main consequences (focused and linked with transatlantic relations) of the enlargement of the EU on the defense policy will be explained. Finally I will discuss the new transatlantic relations that may appear with the enlargement.

Extraits

[...] As opposed to what one can believe, we are probably very far from a unique citizenship and identity. The building of Europe takes a direction compared to the formation of Belgium, the Italian and the German unity. We see that Belgium continues to be divided into great entities. Spain also divides. The same applies to the United Kingdom, with the Welsh or Scottish problems. There is thus currently a tendency to decentralization via the creation of territorial capacities. The weight of the States decreases while the weight of the local entities increases. [...]

[...] Finally I will discuss the new transatlantic relations that may appear with the enlargement. I. The development of the European defense policy During the Cold War, the security in Europe was beard by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), that is to say an alliance within the US were predominant. From this situation we can deduce that the security policy in Europe has not been built only by European countries but results mainly from a transatlantic relationship. However, the perspective of a European defense policy was born before the apparition of NATO. [...]

[...] The question that could be raised is should all the members participate to the European defense policy? I believe that an efficient European defense policy needs collaboration between the EU and NATO. As it was explained before, the EU has not the resources and the means to have a concrete role. Moreover, it is also obvious that the bridge between the EU and the US should be improved and not attacked. NATO and some EU members are already involved together in several actions, in Afghanistan or in Balkans. [...]

[...] CONCLUSION The enlargement of the European Union is a serious bet for the organization. It will of course change the relations between the member States; the draft Constitution prepares the new modalities that will organize those relations. The war in Iraq has demonstrated that establishing a common foreign defense policy was difficult and it often weakens the cohesion of the group. However, if the EU wants to evolve, the members do not have to concentrate only on economic, social, financial or legal aspects but should also give a strong political identity to the Union. [...]

[...] The contemporary issue of the European defense policy has really been developed after Word War II. More than 40 millions victims have been needed to considerate the importance of building a strong peace in Europe. However the widespread of the Soviet threat in the 50's has created a bipolar world where Europe was just a piece of the “Western World”. Even if the European integration and defense policy has always been linked, we had to wait till 2001 to notice the transfer of the powers and tools of the Western European Union (WEU) to the EU. [...]