Common European Defense Policy Needs New Impetus

European security and defense policy ​“needs to become more efficient, more visible and more effective,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded Wednesday in her first speech as a head of the new coalition government. But when the EU summit on Thursday and Friday discusses the future of the common security and defense policy (CSDP), Merkel will likely present little concrete on what Berlin is ready to pitch in toward this goal.

Her signature contribution will be the ​“Ertüchtigungsinitiative,” a rather peculiar German term referring to a loose set of efforts to enable other organizations such as the African Union to take care of security matters in their own region. This is certainly a worthy proposition but contributes little to strengthening the heart of EU security and defense efforts. Such a stance is very much in line with Merkel’s overall lack of ambition when it comes to EU foreign policy.

The French senate in a recently published report (in French) warned: ​“It is futile to believe that there can be a real European foreign policy without a common defense. Without it, Europe is condemned to be a ​‘big Switzerland’, a super-NGO which pays but decides nothing.” Merkel and her key EU and foreign policy advisors at the chancellery have contented themselves with the prospect of the EU becoming a ​“big Switzerland”.

After all, they seem to have concluded, Switzerland is quite a pleasant and prosperous place. For them, the key focus should be on regaining economic competiveness to make sure tomorrow’s Greece looks more like Switzerland than Swaziland. And, anyway, when push comes to shove, the Americans will still take care of Europe’s security. So why waste precious political capital on pushing forward EU security and defense integration while the euro crisis is still demanding full attention?

It is far from clear Merkel will get away so easily with this kind of reasoning in the new coalition government. Both Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Social-Democrat foreign minister, and Ursula von der Leyen, the Christian-Democrat defense minister, are very much in favor of greater EU integration and unlikely to accept the lack of ambition on European security and defense demonstrated by Merkel.

In the past, von der Leyen has even talked about the ​“United States of Europe” as a political goal. Chancellor Merkel is surely banking on a competition between Steinmeier and von der Leyen on the foreign policy stage. However, if the two decide to cooperate on a more ambitious European security and defense policy, this would pose an unexpected challenge to Merkel.

Their alliance would be even more effective if they got Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and the new head of the chancellery, Peter Altmaier, on board. Both Schäuble and Altmaier have much greater aspirations for European integration than Merkel herself. They would likely be game for a smart plan for driving forward European security and defense integration.

There is no lack of arguments and concrete suggestions for such a plan. It is very easy to imagine smarter ways to spend the 190 billion euros ($260 billion) that EU governments spent on defense in 2012. A recent ​“Cost of Non-Europe” report by the European Parliament estimates that procurement is at least 26 billion euros ($36 billion) more expensive than necessary because almost 75 percent of all tenders are still not advertised on a true pan-European basis.

In addition, national defense parochialism leads to a duplication of capabilities in some areas, and gaps in critical areas such as strategic air transport and new military technologies. Budget pressures in all EU countries add to the urgency. Over the past years ​“pooling and sharing” of defense capabilities has become the term of choice to respond to these challenges. However, to date it has been little more than a slogan.

It will take one of the big European players to lead by example. Steinmeier and von der Leyen should fight to make sure that Germany is that player. This means taking on some of the MPs concerned about cuts to bases located in their constituencies if capabilities are pooled. It also means taking steps to revitalize the European multi-national battlegroups. Germany has already suggested using battlegroups for training missions but should now go beyond by opening up them up to rapid deployment in crisis management missions if needed.

What’s more, if Germany decides to throw its weight behind the EU Commission’s proposals on the EU defense market, this would send a clear signal also to other countries guilty of parochialism in procurement. Of course, the approach should be not purely military.

Berlin should also push for a review of the ​“comprehensive approach” of combining political, civilian and military instruments and what its shortcomings in practice mean for future EU security and defense cooperation also with NATO. Europe must continue helping to stabilize far-away places as diverse as Afghanistan and the Central African Republic. It also must continue helping to prevent mass atrocities if it takes the EU’s commitment to the ​“Responsibility to Protect” mandate seriously. This presupposes a debate on to how make prevention a full-time task for diplomats, development workers and defense planners while being modest enough to acknowledge the high risks of failure.

If Germany makes a move on European security and defense, other large countries are more likely to follow suit. The timing is good: the old NATO vs EU dichotomy no long holds Poland back from supporting a stronger EU defense pillar. France has long been an advocate of beefing up EU capabilities. Both believe that the EU needs an ​“Ertüchtigungsinitiative” at home if it wants to credibly build capacity abroad. They argue that in light of the euro crisis a counter-cyclical investment in EU security and defense is necessary to ensure that tomorrow’s European Union is still a relevant global player. Steinmeier and von der Leyen would be well advised to follow this reasoning and push Merkel and Germany toward supporting greater ambitions on EU security and defense.