United Kingdom Joins EU Defense Coordination Project (Pesco) in Response to Russian Invasion of Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had a seismic impact on the European security order that has provoked unprecedented solidarity between the states of the Old Continent, with a more than significant change of position of a key actor. United Kingdom has announced an agreement to join an EU defense coordination project (Pesco). Specifically, it is an initiative led by the Netherlands that aims to facilitate the transport of NATO troops and weapons throughout Europe by reducing bureaucratic procedures such as customs regulations on the transport of military equipment.

It represents a titanic turn for Downing Street. The ‘Tories’ – who have been in power since 2010 – had always been against the idea of ​​a “European Army”. During the Brexit negotiations, Brussels tried to sign a foreign affairs and defense treaty with London, but was met with an emphatic rejection from the then ‘premier’ Boris Johnson. And yet now the new tenant of Number 10, Rishi Sunak, despite his strong Eurosceptic convictions, has opted for a much more pragmatic approach.

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Negotiations started in earnest in November, when the EU accepted the UK’s request to join the project, a moment that marked one of the biggest strides in cross-Channel cooperation since the British left the bloc.

The problem is that the hard core of the conservative ranks does not share Sunak’s vision and has become angry not only because of the participation of this specific initiative, but also because the Executive has refused to rule out the adoption of additional measures to cooperate with Brussels. in defense and security. Currently, the Pesco military cooperation pact has 68 projects, ranging from maritime and air to cybersecurity systems.

“Where it is in the interests of the UK to work with the European Union for the benefit of NATO and our own national interest, we will, of course, do so. However, we will not do it blindly out of habitonly when it is in our interest,” said Defense Secretary James Heappey.

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His speech last Wednesday in the House of Commons created an intense debate with strong criticism from the Brexiteers ‘Tories’. Despite the fact that other countries outside the EU, including Canada, Norway and the United States, are also participating in this military mobility project, the hard core of the Conservative Party does not believe that Pesco is an “à la carte menu in which the United Kingdom Kingdom can choose what it wants and reject what it doesn’t” and they fear that their objectives are not aligned with those of NATO.

David Jones MP said the British are going “into a deal we can’t get out of.” “While it may make some sense to be involved in a specific project when it comes to military mobility, it is hard not to see a further extension of the relationship with PESCO as a reduction of British sovereignty. And that’s the exact opposite of what people voted for in the 2016 referendum,” he added.

From the Ministry of Defense they emphasize that the projects of Pesco do not lock third countries into the EU legal or regulatory ecosystem, nor do they carry the obligation to join other EU defense structures or additional Pesco projects. They reiterate that “it will in no way affect the UK’s sovereign control over defence.” However, the ministry does not plan to publish this new agreement with Brussels. He argues that it is not department policy to issue memorandums of understanding because they often deal with classified military or technical matters. But this has not done more than increase the criticism among the ‘brexiteers’ who, in any case, after the departure of Johnson, no longer have the same strength in the party.

The arrival of Sunak at Downing Street —which, among other things, has managed to negotiate the Windsor Framework to end the controversy over post-Brexit customs controls in Ireland, thus avoiding a trade war with the EU— has helped build confidence on the other side of the English Channel and to promote the debate on further cooperation.

However, the relationship remains unstructured. While the Labor opposition, which is leading in the polls ahead of next year’s general election, has proposed a formal security deal with the bloc should it come to power, the current conservative government resists formalizationfearing that anything resembling an alliance would upset the hard core of their ranks.

Britain’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been lauded across the continent for its strength and efficiency, with London’s military contributions to kyiv being the highest among European countries. The UK has trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, enhanced its forward presence in neighboring NATO countries, signed new security agreements with, among others, Finland and Sweden, and has intensified its cooperation with Nordic and Baltic partners.

Yet while NATO remains the main forum through which strategic debate takes place, the EU has become a key player in the conflict, coordinating aid and weapons donations, accelerating Ukraine’s application for bloc membershipapplying successive rounds of sanctions to those close to the Vladimir Putin regime and providing a forum, through the strategic compass exercise, to agree on a shared threat assessment among member states.

Sunak does not want the UK to be isolated. However, London’s rapprochement now with Pesco must be understood as part of a much broader focus on defense collaboration with new agreements such as Aukus —the technological security alliance with the United States and Australia, with which they promote their interest in the Indo Pacific—or the consortium with Japan and Italy to build sixth-generation fighter aircraft.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had a seismic impact on the European security order that has provoked unprecedented solidarity between the states of the Old Continent, with a more than significant change of position of a key actor. United Kingdom has announced an agreement to join an EU defense coordination project (Pesco). Specifically, it is an initiative led by the Netherlands that aims to facilitate the transport of NATO troops and weapons throughout Europe by reducing bureaucratic procedures such as customs regulations on the transport of military equipment.

2023-07-01 03:17:00
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