A report by the European Parliament into the Brexit deal struck between Britain and Brussels has highlighted that the UK could be tricked into becoming part of an EU army.
The report into the UK’s Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the EU lays out a roadmap on how cooperation already agreed over military movement in the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) agreement could see the UK pulled in further.
PESCO is seen as the basis for an EU Army which has long been championed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Earlier this year European military forces had their first official manoeuvres under an EU flag despite claims by Remainers and others that the concept of an EU army was a scare story made up by Brexiteers.
There have long been concerns that the UK could be dragged into the cooperation having already signed up to one part of PESCO.
But according to the EU Parliament report there is a roadmap for Britain to be more deeply involved.
In points 169 and 170, the report noted: “Calls for the stronger involvement of the UK in European security and defence projects; welcomes, in this context, the decision of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) members and the Council of 14 November 2022 to invite the UK to join the Military Mobility PESCO project, which would improve mutual rapid security and defence assistance; calls on the Member States to sign the administrative agreement on Military Mobility with the UK as soon as possible.”
It went on: “[The European Parliament] urges the UK to further cooperate with the EU on pressing strategic challenges by ensuring the complementarity and effectiveness of actions; points out that the parallel projects for developing future combat air systems can be an inefficient use of resources and that the 2022 common security and defence policy annual report recommends that the projects should be merged; proposes to launch a meaningful dialogue also on other weapons systems, military technology and related innovations, with a particular focus on ensuring the efficiency of spending and investments, and the technical interoperability of armed forces and weapons systems.”
Former Conservative MEP David Campbell Bannerman said that the report came as no surprise to him because the EU had been trying to create an EU army for years.
Deals like the one between France and the UK are also seen as means of replacing NATO with a European force.
He said: “As a former MEP and member of the Defence & Security Committee, I know that the EU forever has designs on controlling our armed forces and defence procurement; particularly as Britain and France were the only countries spending then properly on defence.
“We need to bolster NATO; and not risk losing the 70 percent of its funding from the USA and Canada in the false pursuit of European solidarity. Pursuing EU Armies will weaken our collective defence, not strengthen it.”
Ministers in the Ministry of Defence have previously said that they are open to exploring joining other strands of PESCO.
However, they have denied that Britain would support the idea of an EU army let alone join one.
But former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib warned that the European Parliament report underlines that an EU army is a strategic aim and that “it is clear they want Britain to join.”
The issue was a major part of the debate in the EU referendum but was denied by former Prime Minister David Cameron as being a realistic threat.
Lord Cameron is now Foreign Secretary and has promised closer ties with the EU.
