[A-List] Western Europe: Armed And Dangerous

[Rick Rozoff <r_rozoff@xxxxxxxxx>]

1) "European Battle Units": Britain, France, Germany
To Create EU Rapid Deployment Strike Force
2) Anglo-French Military Cooperation: New Aircraft
Carrier, European Rapid Response Force
3) EU External Relations Commissioner Demands More
NATO Troops For Afghanistan
4) Nine Nations Sign NATO Agreement On 'Strategic
Sealift Capability For Rapidly Deployable Forces'




1)
http://www.hindu.com/2004/02/13/stories/2004021301591400.htm

The Hindu
February 13, 2004


E.U. military force set to take shape
By Batuk Gathani

-At a recent meeting of Defence Ministers in Munich,
the U.S. pleaded for a bigger role for the Western
military alliance in Afghanistan. The U.S. delegation
also explored the prospects of getting European help
in the various conflict areas in West Asia [the Middle
East]. U.S. officials are convinced that they have
made headway on the proposal to expand NATO's role in
Afghanistan. The U.S. is keen on the alliance taking
over command of Polish and Spanish forces deployed in
Iraq.



BRUSSELS, FEB. 11. The European Union, which has been
discussing the feasibility of a military force of its
own, has taken the first steps to form such a force
with France, Germany and Britain, the leading members
of the Union, set to launch "European battle units",
or the "Rapid Reaction Force'' in Berlin next week.

The personnel of this force will undergo special
training in jungle, desert and mountain combat.

Observers foresee the European force being deployed in
African and West Asian conflict zones. The strategy in
regard to the new force will be articulated at the
Berlin summit, which will be attended by the German
Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, the French President,
Jacques Chirac, and the British Prime Minister, Tony
Blair.

Each "battle unit'' will consist of 1,500 troops and
be capable of being deployed anywhere in the globe
within 15 days and will operate under the mandate of
the United Nations. The missions will last up to 30
days and will be appropriate for, but not limited to,
use in failed or failing states, most of which are in
Africa. The obvious crisis areas are Sierra Leone and
Liberia in West Africa and the mineral-rich Congo
where guerrilla forces, with help from the armies of
Uganda and Rwanda, are fighting the national army.

France, Britain and Germany want the "rapid
deployment'' plan to be accepted by all member states
of the E.U., whose number will grow to 25 in May. The
initiative will be presented later this week to the
E.U.'s political and security officials as well as
ambassadors. The security units will work in close
coordination, but not exclusively with, the United
Nations. This in effect will "internationalise''
global conflict areas, where so far the U.S. has taken
solo initiatives. The idea of forming a European force
has rankled the United States, which suspects that the
force will be a rival to NATO. At a recent meeting of
Defence Ministers in Munich, the U.S. pleaded for a
bigger role for the Western military alliance in
Afghanistan. The U.S. delegation also explored the
prospects of getting European help in the various
conflict areas in West Asia. U.S. officials are
convinced that they have made headway on the proposal
to expand NATO's role in Afghanistan. The U.S. is keen
on the alliance taking over command of Polish and
Spanish forces deployed in Iraq.
------------------------------------------------------
2)
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1075982542847&p=1012571727166

Financial Times
February 14, 2004

Aircraft carrier choice paves way for closer ties
By Robert Graham in Paris and Mark Odell in London


In an important new signal of Anglo-French defence
co-operation, President Jacques Chirac opted yesterday
to build a conventionally-powered second aircraft
carrier, paving the way for possible industrial
synergies with Britain.


The French president rejected alternative proposals to
build an exclusively French vessel with nuclear
propulsion to match the Charles de Gaulle, the French
navy's flagship since it entered service in 2001.

The move follows the recent Franco-British initiative
to create a joint rapid reaction force and the
settlement of a stand-off over which country's
candidate should head the European arms procurement
agency.

It also comes weeks after Britain snubbed Boeing, a US
company, in favour of EADS, the aerospace company, to
supply the Royal Air Force with air-to-air refuelling
tankers built by the Franco-German company's
subsidiary Airbus, based in Toulouse, France.

The decision also comes ahead of next week's
tripartite informal summit in Berlin between Mr
Chirac, Tony Blair, the British prime minister, and
Gerhard Schröder, the German chancellor.

Mr Chirac and Mr Blair agreed at their Le Touquet
summit last February - at the height of tensions over
Iraq - to consider how to co-operate on aircraft
carriers, both industrially and operationally, as the
UK was planning to build two new conventional
flagships.

But there has been a fierce battle within the French
political and military establishment over the benefits
of a "national solution" and the wisdom of ordering a
second nuclear carrier to complement the Charles de
Gaulle.

The decision is based partly on cutting costs through
the participation of Thales, the French defence group,
which is jointly building the British carriers with UK
rival BAE Systems. The French navy has also
encountered problems with the nuclear propulsion
system on the Charles de Gaulle. But the commitment of
Europe's two leading military powers to signal
enhanced co-operation as the core of a future EU
defence identity played an important role.

A brief statement from Mr Chirac's office yesterday
underlined this point, saying the choice "opens up
prospects for better co-operation with the UK".

Downing Street hailed the decision: "We welcome
France's decision to build a conventionally-powered
aircraft carrier. It opens the way for industry on
both sides of the Channel to explore
co-operation...and will contribute to the
strengthening of both Europe's defence capabilities
and Franco-British military co-operation."

British industry sources were quick to stress,
however, that the two programmes would remain
completely separate.

One defence executive denied that co-operation with
France would further delay finalising the British
carriers' design, which has hit budgetary problems.
------------------------------------------------------
3)
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2523609

The Scotsman
February 12, 2004

Patten Urges More Troops for Afghanistan
"PA"

-Patten, who will be travelling to Kabul next week
with Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen to assess
reconstruction efforts on behalf of the EU, urged the
NATO alliance to send more troops.
Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Sweden have said
they could send more troops. Turkey and Romania have
indicated they may send soldiers as well.




Reconstruction efforts could fail in Afghanistan if
international donors do not increase the number of
troops there, European Union External Relations
Commissioner Chris Patten said today.

?Afghanistan?s future depends critically on security,?
Patten said during a debate on Afghanistan at the
European Parliament in Strasbourg.

?Without better security, reconstruction will
certainly stall, and we will find ourselves struggling
to hold open and credible elections.?

Patten?s comments came ahead of a planned
international donors conference aiming to drum up more
aid for Afghanistan, which will be held at the end of
March in Berlin.

Elections are scheduled for June, although the United
Nations has warned they may be delayed because of
continuing violence.

Patten, who will be travelling to Kabul next week with
Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen to assess
reconstruction efforts on behalf of the EU, urged the
NATO alliance to send more troops.

Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Sweden have said
they could send more troops. Turkey and Romania have
indicated they may send soldiers as well.

?I strongly hope NATO will be able to provide more
troops,? he said adding that attacks against aid
workers and troops and against Afghan citizens had
escalated in the past few months and needed to be
stopped.

Patten said attacks had left ?large parts of the south
and southeast off limits? for aid workers.

Patten also said the fight against the opium trade in
Afghanistan should be redoubled.

?Without stronger institutions and better law
enforcement we will get nowhere in the fight against
drugs,? he said.
------------------------------------------------------
4)
http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2004/02-february/e0212a.htm

NATO International
February 12, 2004

Agreement on strategic sealift capability


On 12 February nine nations signed an agreement with
the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) to
provide NATO with strategic sealift capability for
rapidly deployable forces.
In addition to the lead nation Norway, the other
nations are Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.

There is a shortfall in strategic sealift in the
Alliance. As a consequence, a High Level Group on
Strategic Sealift was established at the Prague Summit
in 2002. The nations agreed to increase their
multinational efforts to reduce the strategic sealift
shortfalls for rapidly deployable forces by using a
combination of fulltime charter and multinational
assured access contracts.


The nine nations have agreed to acquire a
multinational capability package consisting of three
roll-on/roll-off (Ro/Ro) ships on assured access, 1-2
Danish Ro/Ro ships on fulltime charter, residual
capacity of four United Kingdom Ro/Ro ships and a
Norwegian Ro/Ro ship on ad hoc basis. The nations will
pursue an incremental approach, utilizing 2004 as a
trial year with the aim of developing further capacity
for subsequent years.
To ensure effective use of the overall strategic
sealift capability, the nations will utilize the
services of the Sealift Coordination Centre (SCC). The
SCC was established on permanent basis at the
Eindhoven Airbase, the Netherlands, on 1 September
2003, and is based on an agreement between the
Netherlands, Norway and United Kingdom. Several more
nations are utilizing the centre and are in the
process of joining the agreement.

? I am extremely pleased with the arrangement and that
the additional capability package will be a valuable
step in eliminating NATO's shortfall in strategic
sealift,? said the Assistant Secretary General for
Defence Investment, Marshall S. Billingslea.








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