BRUSSELS (Dispatches) -- France and Germany have edged toward achieving a 70-year-old ambition to integrate European militaries, signing a pact with 21 other EU governments to fund, develop and deploy armed forces after Britain’s decision to quit the bloc.
First proposed in the 1950s and long resisted by Britain, European military planning, operations and weapons development now stands its best chance in years as London steps aside and the U.S. pushes Europe to pay more for its security.
Foreign and defense ministers gathered at a signing ceremony in Brussels Monday to represent 23 EU governments joining the pact, paving the way for EU leaders to sign it in December. Their signatures are a sign of political will but the program will only enter force once it’s been legally endorsed, probably in December.
Those governments will for the first time legally bind themselves into joint projects as well as pledging to increase military spending and contribute to rapid deployments.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said countries have already submitted more than 50 joint projects in the fields of defense capabilities and military operations.
She added that the countries who didn’t sign up can join later.
The pact includes all EU governments except Britain, which is leaving the bloc, Denmark, which has opted out of military matters, Ireland, Portugal and Malta. Traditionally neutral Austria was a late addition to the pact. Paris originally wanted a vanguard of EU countries to bring money and assets to French-led military missions and projects, while Berlin has sought to be more inclusive, which could reduce effectiveness.
Its backers say that if successful, the formal club of 23 members will give the EU a more coherent role in tackling perceived threats, and end the kind of shortcomings seen in Libya in 2011, when European allies relied on the U.S. for air power and munitions. Unlike past attempts, the U.S.-led NATO alliance backs the project, aiming to benefit from stronger militaries.
The club will be backed by a 5 billion euro ($5.8 billion) military fund for buying weapons, a special fund to finance operations and money from the EU’s common budget for military research.
European governments say Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014 was a turning point, after years of military spending cuts that left Europe without vital capabilities.
"This is a commitment for countries to do better together,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. "It comes at a time of significant tension,” he said, referring indirectly to Russia’s rising military reach and Takfiri militants who have attacked European cities.
In 1998, Britain blocked formal collaboration on military matters, wary of the creation of an EU army. Britain’s aerospace industry and its biggest defense firm BAE Systems fear losing out, diplomats said.