The European Union has been urging member states to agree to a more harmonised approach to security and defence through increased cooperation between sovereign armies. The increased push towards collaboration fuelled concerns the bloc may step away from NATO to pursue the creation of a fully-fledged EU Army in the coming years. But Baroness Goldie warned the “inadvertently antagonistic” stance Brussels has adopted in the past few years could cause additional threats to the continent.
The Conservative peer told the Lords’ EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee: “The EU has, over the years, been developing its approach to defence.
“If you take the Common Security Defence policy, if you take PESCO, if you take a number of other European-related structures in relation to defence, clearly Europe has a desire to present a coherent position in relation to defence.
“What I think it has to be perhaps very vigilant about is, if you look at the recent articulation of rules for PESCO, in all its language the EU will want to be careful that it doesn’t sound excluding or inadvertently antagonistic.”
Baroness Goldie insisted Brussels must ensure any defence policy developed is in line with the commitments made to NATO.
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She continued: “We don’t want an impression to our common hostile operators, who are a threat to both the EU and the United Kingdom, any sense of division.
“I think the EU has good structures in place, the EU will want to develop these but it’s very important it develops as complementary to NATO, not in competition with NATO.”
The warning comes after plans were drawn up for the creation of a 28th European Army reporting directly to the European Commission rather than sovereign member states.
The proposal was drawn up by a Security and Defence Policy working group within the German Social-Democratic Party – the second-biggest political party within Germany.
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