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The military of the European Union comprises the several national armed forces of the Union's 28 member states, as the policy area of defence has remained primarily the domain of nation states. European integration has however been deepened in this field in recent years, with the framing of a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) branch for the Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) as well as the creation of separate international forces revolving around the EU's defence. A number of CSDP military operations have been deployed in recent years. The principal military alliance in Europe remains NATO, which includes 22 of all EU member states as well as other non-EU European countries, Turkey, Albania, the United States and Canada.

Several prominent leaders, including former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, have voiced support for a common defence for the Union. This possibility, requiring unanimous support among the member states, was formally laid down in Article 42 of the Treaty on European Union upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009. Furthermore, the Treaty of Lisbon extended the enhanced co-operation provision to become available for application in the area of defence. This mechanism enables a minimum number of member states to deepen integration within the EUs institutional framework, without the necessity of participation for reluctant member states.

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v t e

Following the end of World War II and the defeat of the Axis Powers, the Dunkirk Treaty was signed by France and the United Kingdom on 4 March 1947 as a Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance against a possible German attack in the aftermath of World War II. The Dunkirk Treaty entered into force on 8 September 1947. The 1948 Treaty of Brussels established the military Western Union Defence Organisation with an allied European command structure under Field Marshal Montgomery. Western European powers, except for Ireland, Sweden, Finland and Austria, signed the North Atlantic Treaty alongside the United States and Canada which only created a passive defence association until 1951 when, during the Korean War, the existing and fully functioning Western Union Defence Organisation was augmented to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO.

In the early 1950s, France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries made an attempt to integrate the militaries of mainland western Europe, through the treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC). This scheme did however not enter into force, as it failed to obtain approval for ratification in the French National Assembly, where Gaullists feared for national sovereignty and Communists opposed a European military consolidation that could rival the Soviet Union. The failure to establish the EDC resulted in the 1954 amendment of the Treaty of Brussels at the London and Paris Conferences which in replacement of EDC established the political Western European Union (WEU) out of the earlier established military Western Union Defence Organisation and included West Germany and Italy in both WEU and NATO as the conference ended the occupation of West Germany and the defence aims had shifted from Germany to the Soviet Union.

Out of the 28 EU member states, 21 are also members of NATO. Another 3 NATO members are EU Applicants and 1 is solely a member of the European Economic Area. In 1996, the Western European Union (WEU) was tasked by NATO to implement a European Security and Defence Identity within NATO, which later was passed over to the EU Common Security and Defence Policy as all Western European Union functions were transferred to the European Union through the Lisbon Treaty. The memberships of the EU and NATO are distinct, and some EU member states are traditionally neutral on defence issues. Several of the new EU member states were formerly members of the Warsaw Pact.

Following the Kosovo War in 1999, the European Council agreed that "the Union must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and the readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises without prejudice to actions by NATO". To that end, a number of efforts were made to increase the EU's military capability, notably the Helsinki Headline Goal process. After much discussion, the most concrete result was the EU Battlegroups initiative, each of which is planned to be able to deploy quickly about 1500 personnel.

The EU currently has a limited mandate over defence issues, with a role to explore the issue of European defence agreed to in the Amsterdam Treaty, as well as oversight of the Helsinki Headline Goal Force Catalogue (the 'European Rapid Reaction Force') processes. However, some EU states may and do make multilateral agreements about defence issues outside of the EU structures.

On 20 February 2009 the European Parliament voted in favour of the creation of Synchronised Armed Forces Europe (SAFE) as a first step towards a true European military force. SAFE will be directed by an EU directorate, with its own training standards and operational doctrine. There are also plans to create an EU "Council of Defence Ministers" and "a European statute for soldiers within the framework of Safe governing training standards, operational doctrine and freedom of operational action".

EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from middle and northern Africa to Western Balkans and western Asia. EU military operations are supported by a number of bodies, including the European Defence Agency, European Union Satellite Centre and the European Union Military Staff. In an EU consisting of 28 members, substantial security and defence co-operation is increasingly relying on great power co-operation.

Implications of the Treaty of Lisbon

The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon triggered member states of the Western European Union (WEU) to scrap the organisation, which had largely become dormant, but they have kept the mutual defence clause of the Treaty of Brussels as the basis for the EU mutual defence arrangement.

The Treaty of Lisbon also states that:

The common security and defence policy shall include the progressive framing of the common defence policy. This will lead to a common defence, when the European Council, acting unanimously, so decides. (TEU, Article 42)

Forces and frameworks

Common Security and Defence Policy

The defence arrangements which have been established under the EU institutions are part of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), a branch of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). It should be noted that Denmark has an opt-out from the CSDP.

• European Defence Agency
• European Security and Defence Identity
• European Union Institute for Security Studies
• European Union Military Staff – supervises military operations carried out by the EU; its chief is General Henri Bentegeat, a former chief of the French Defence Staff.
• EU Battlegroup – a type of force of which there are 15, each one numbering 1,500 troops. Under direct control of the European Council.
• Helsinki Headline Goal - listing of rapid reaction forces composed of 60,000 troops managed by the European Union, but under control of the countries who deliver troops for it.

Separate initiatives

Separate initiatives by Member States that revolve around the defence of the European Union in some way or another, or acting as a European standing army.

• Finabel
• Eurocorps – independent military force composed of 60,000 troops that can be deployed for various missions.
• Eurofor – rapid reaction force to be included in EUFOR missions.
• European Gendarmerie Force – crisis intervention force composed of 900 personnel, with 2,300 additional personnel that can be deployed as reinforcements.
• European Air Group
• European Air Transport Command (EATC)
• European Maritime Force
• Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation
• I. German/Dutch Corps - has been extended as NATO's Response Force brigade. It includes battalions and platoons from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Denmark, Turkey and Norway. Overall personnel come from 12 countries.
• European Defence Initiative (proposed)
• Permanent Structured Cooperation in Defence (proposed)

Military expenditure and personnel

The following table presents the military expenditure of the European Union in euros (€). The combined military expenditure of the European Union Member States amounts to just over is €192.5 billion. This represents 1.55% of European Union GDP and is second only to the €503 billion military expenditure of the United States. The US figure represents 4.66% of United States GDP. European military expenditure includes spending on joint projects such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and joint procurement of equipment. The European Union's combined active military forces in 2011 totaled 1,551,038 personnel. According to the European Defence Agency, the European Union had an average of 53,744 land force personnel deployed around the world (or 3.5% of the total military personnel). In a major operation the EU could readily deploy up-to 425,824 land force personnel and sustain 110,814 of those during an enduring operation. In comparison, the US had on average 177,700 troops deployed in 2011. This represents 12.5% of US military personnel.

In a speech in 2012, Swedish General Håkan Syrén criticised the spending levels of European Union countries, saying that in the future those countries' military capability will decrease, creating "critical shortfalls".

Guide to table:

• All figure entries in the large table below are provided by the European Defence Agency. Figures from other sources are not included.
• The table is split into two distinct parts (indicated by colors): red for data regarding expenditure and green for data regarding personnel.
• The "operations & maintenance expenditure" category may in some circumstances also include finances on-top of the nations defence budget.
• The categories "troops prepared for deployed operations" and "troops prepared for deployed and sustained operation" only include land force personnel.

France and the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom and France are both recognised nuclear-weapon states and represent the most dominant and capable military powers within the European Union. In 2010, the United Kingdom and France accounted for 45% of Europe's defence budget, 50% of its military capacity and 70% of all spending in military research and development. The European Union Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has suggested that the The Lancaster House Treaties signed between Britain and France in 2010 may lay the foundations of a "new engine for European defence". Its publication also makes the observation that both are committed to preserving their expeditionary warfare capabilities: such as retaining the capacity to deploy a substantial number of troops during a high-intensity expeditionary operation, anywhere in the world. The BBC reported that the Lancaster House Treaties will "pool resources" of these two nations' armed forces to maintain their status as major "global defence powers".

British and French military expenditure for 2012 published in the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Yearbook 2013 using current (2010) market exchange rates in US$. Figures for active military personnel are provided by their respective Ministries of Defence.

Country	Military expenditure ($)	% of GDP	World share %	Active military personnel
France	$58,900,000,000	2.3%	3.4%	228,656
United Kingdom	$62,800,000,000	2.5%	3.5%	205,810

The table

Country	Military expenditure (€)	Per capita (€)	% of GDP	Operations & maintenance expenditure (€)	Active military personnel	Land troops prepared for deployed operations	Land troops prepared for deployed and sustained operations
EU	€192,535,000,000	€387	1.55%	€45,219,000,000	1,551,038	425,824	110,814
Austria	€2,453,000,000	€291	0.82%	€507,000,000	27,110	1,364
Belgium	€3,986,000,000	€363	1.08%	€651,000,000	31,894	6,691	1,897
Bulgaria	€545,000,000	€73	1.42%	€111,000,000	28,767	6,232	900
Croatia
Cyprus	€345,000,000	€400	1.92%	€50,000,000	12,392	237
Czech Republic	€1,820,000,000	€173	1.17%	€501,000,000	22,129	7,866	1,350
Denmark	€3,020,000,000	€535	1.16%		24,509
Estonia	€340,000,000	€254	2.00%	€101,000,000	3,190	658	188
Finland	€2,654,000,000	€493	1.40%	€705,000,000	8,844	1,418
France	€39,105,000,000	€597	1.93%	€7,613,000,000	218,200	71,585	29,444
Germany	€32,490,000,000	€397	1.23%		191,721
Greece	€3,272,000,000	€290	1.69%	€738,000,000	109,070	22,180	2,552
Hungary	€1,000,000,000	€100	1.00%	€329,000,000	18,088	3,149	1,057
Ireland	€881,000,000	€196	0.55%	€89,000,000	9,450	850	850
Italy	€20,600,000,000	€338	1.32%	€2,087,000,000	184,318
Latvia	€210,000,000	€102	1.04%	€45,000,000	4,832	733	212
Lithuania	€252,000,000	€83	0.82%	€55,000,000	7,987	1,280	413
Luxembourg	€201,000,000	€386	0.47%	€21,000,000	1057	234	44
Malta	€40,000,000	€96	0.62%	€6,000,000	1,698	159	30
Netherlands	€8,156,000,000	€489	1.35%	€2,128,000,000	44,655	16,853	5,050
Poland	€6,754,000,000	€175	1.95%	€1,331,000,000	120,000	24,947	4,946
Portugal	€2,669,000,000	€251	1.56%	€253,000,000	35,254	10,206	2,254
Romania	€1,713,000,000	€80	1.26%	€189,000,000	68,340	10,957	2,953
Slovakia	€763,000,000	€140	1.10%	€168,000,000	13,501	3,760	722
Slovenia	€478,000,000	€233	1.32%	€81,000,000	7,107	1,756	454
Spain	€10,059,000,000	€218	0.95%	€1,742,000,000	124,561	45,921	7,850
Sweden	€4,331,000,000	€459	1.12%	€1,847,000,000	13,949	3,122	1,966
United Kingdom	€43,696,000,000	€691	2.30%	€17,052,000,000	205,810	68,400	19,000

Militaries of Member States

European Naval Forces

The combined component strength of the European Naval Forces is some 544 commissioned warships. Of those in service, 4 are aircraft carriers, the largest of which is the 42,000 tonne Charles de Gaulle. However British plans will see two 70,600 tonne Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers enter service starting 2018. Of the EU's 58 submarines, 21 are nuclear-powered submarines (11 UK and 10 French) while 37 are conventional attack submarines. Many European Navies do not classify destroyer sized vessels as destroyers, and instead classify them as frigates regardless of size and role. This would explain the relatively large difference between the number of destroyers and frigates in service.

Operation Atalanta (formally European Union Naval Force Somalia) is the first ever (and still ongoing) naval operation of the European Union. It is part of a larger global action by the EU in the Horn of Africa to deal with the Somali crisis. As of January 2011 twenty-three EU nations participate in the operation.

Britain and France have Blue water navies while Italy and Spain have Green water navies.

Guide to table:

• Ceremonial vessels, research vessels, supply vessels, training vessels, and icebreakers are not included.
• The table only counts warships that are commissioned (or equivalent) and active.
• Surface vessels displacing less than 200 tonnes are not included, regardless of other characteristics.
• The "amphibious support ship" category includes both amphibious transport docks and dock landing ships.
• The "anti-mine ship" category includes minesweepers and minehunters.
• Generally, total tonnage of ships is more important than total number of ships.

The table

Country	Aircraft carrier	Amphibious assault ship	Amphibious support ship	Destroyer	Frigate	Corvette	Patrol boat	Anti-mine ship	Missile sub.	Attack sub.	Total	Tonnage
EU	4	8	10	21	106	44	133	161	8	50	545
Austria
Belgium					2		2	5			9
Bulgaria					4	3	1	10			18	15,160
Croatia							5	2			7
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark					9		9				18
Estonia					1			7			8	4,518
Finland							4	17			21	5,429
France	1	3	1	11	12	9	12	18	4	6	78	319,195
Germany					12	5	8	15		4	44	82,790
Greece					13		26	4		8	51
Hungary
Ireland							8				8	10,306
Italy	2		3	4	13	6	10	10		6	54
Latvia								4			4
Lithuania							4	4			8
Luxembourg
Malta							7				1	400
Netherlands			2		6		4	6		4	22
Poland					2	1	3	19		5	28
Portugal					5	7	7			2	23
Romania					3	7	6	5			21
Slovakia
Slovenia								2			2	900
Spain	1		2		11		18	7		3	42
Sweden						6		11		5	22
United Kingdom		1	5	6	13		6	15	4	7	75	367,850

European Land Forces

Combined, the member states of the European Union maintain large numbers of various land-based military vehicles and weaponry.

Guide to table:

• The table is not exhaustive and can only provide approximate figures. In some cases figures are taken from articles that are known to be fairly-accurate and contain reliable sources (E.g. Modern equipment of the British Army).
• The "main battle tank" category also includes tank destroyers (such as the Italian B1 Centauro).
• The "Armoured fighting vehicle" category includes all types of armoured vehicles, such as: infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), armoured personnel carriers (APC), infantry mobility vehicles (IMV), armoured engineering vehicles (AEV), armoured recovery vehicles (ARV), armoured command vehicles and all other types.
• The "self-propelled gun" and "towed artillery" categories only include howitzers. Other types of towed or self-propelled artillery are not included regardless of characteristics.
• The "multiple rocket launcher" category is also known as "rocket artillery".
• The "attack helicopter" category only includes attack helicopters comparable in role and configuration too AgustaWestland Apache or Eurocopter Tiger types.

The table

Country	Main battle tank	Armoured fighting vehicle	Self-propelled gun	Towed artillery	Multiple rocket launcher	Mortar	Attack helicopter	Military logistics vehicle
EU	6,510	46,211	2,116	3,398	1,319	18,302	338	0
Austria	162	835	80			250		1,360
Belgium		302		14		350
Bulgaria	80	1,397	206	150	240
Croatia	80	128	9	114	60	183
Cyprus	184	519	28	84			11
Czech Republic	123	586	89			93	24
Denmark	57	734	12			90
Estonia		139		104		129
Finland	169	1,323	90	684	58	2,058
France	527	6,887	150	93		1,550	39
Germany	408	3,934	185		252	2,200	27
Greece	1,244	4,209	587	729	152	3,371	29
Hungary	32	1,000		30	65	250
Ireland		94		24		151		127
Italy	480	6,002	166	72	22	2,166	56
Latvia		70		10		64
Lithuania		240		64		142
Luxembourg		87
Malta		52				43
Netherlands		1,346	18			550	29
Poland	991	2,788	443	255	240	1,675	29	5,893
Portugal	137	400	18	41		400
Romania	1,098	2,578		644	188	1,117	22
Slovakia	17	380	42
Slovenia	17	156
Spain	357	1,894	96	143		400	6
Sweden	120	1,722				600
United Kingdom	407	6,642	89	138	42	2,370	66	17,682

European Air Forces

The Air Forces of Europe operate a wide range of military systems and hardware. This is primarily due to the independent requirements of each member state and also the national defence industries of some member states. However such programmes like the Eurofighter Typhoon and Eurocopter Tiger have seen many European nations design, build and operate a single weapons platform. 60% of overall combat fleet was developed and manufactured by member states, 32% are US-origin, but some of these were assembled in Europe, while remaining 8% are soviet-made aircraft. In 2013 it is estimated that the European Union had around 2,000 serviceable combat aircraft (fighter aircraft and ground-attack aircraft,trainers excluded).

Currently within the EU operates:

• Fifth-generation jet fighters (5; 54 aircraft ordered): F-35 (RAF,AMI and Royal Netherlands Air Force).
• 4.5th generation jet fighters (665): Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab JAS 39 Gripen, Dassault Rafale.
• Fourth-generation jet fighters (1111): F-16, Panavia Tornado, Dassault Mirage 2000, F/A-18, MiG-29.
• Third-generation jet fighters (90): F-4, MiG-21.
• Ground-attack aircraft (203): AMX, AV-8B Harrier II, LTV A-7 Corsair II, Dassault Super Étendard,Dassault Mirage F1, Su-22, Su-25 and others.

The EUs air-lift capabilities are evolving with the future introduction of the Airbus A400M (another example of EU defence cooperation). The A400M is a tactical airlifter with strategic capabilities. Around 140 are initially expected to be operated by 6 member states (UK, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Spain and Belgium).

Guide to table:

• Aircraft are grouped into three main types (indicated by colors): red for combat aircraft, green for aerial refueling aircraft, and blue for transport aircraft.
• The three "other" categories include additional aircraft according to their type sorted by colour (E.g. the "other" category in red includes combat aircraft, while the "other" category in green includes aerial refueling aircraft). This was done because it was not feasible allocate every type its own category.
• The "special" category (blue) includes: AEW&C, ISTAR, SIGINT, and reconnaissance aircraft.

The table

Combat aircraft

2013	Eurofighter Typhoon	Panavia Tornado	Mirage 2000	Saab Gripen	F-16	F/A-18	MiG-29	MiG-21	Harrier II	F-35	Other	Total
EU	366	309	170	168	424	150	58	44	32	5	348	2074
Greece			44		157						46 F-4, 28 A-7	275
France			126								131 D. Rafale, 21 SÉ	278
Italy	76	85							16		55 AMX	232
Germany	112	122										234
United Kingdom	117	102								3		222
Spain	46					86			16			148
Sweden				140								140
Poland					48		31				32 Su-22	111
Netherlands					68					2		70
Finland						64						64
Belgium					49							49
Romania					12			36				48
Denmark					72							72
Czech Republic				14							19 L-159	33
Portugal					18							18
Bulgaria							15				15 Su-25	30
Austria	15											15
Hungary				14								14
Slovakia							12					12
Croatia								8				8
Lithuania											1 L-39	1

Transport, tanker and air-lift aircraft

	A330/ A340	A310	KC-135/ 707	C-17	C-130	C-160	C-27J	CN-235/ C-295	An-26	L-410	A400M	Other	Total
European Union	13	910	917	911	9140	99	31	83	13	17	4	971	505
France	3	3	14		14	39		24			4		98
Germany	2	5				60						022 A319	69
Spain		2	3		12			22				19 C-212	58
United Kingdom	7			8	32							4 BAe 146	51
Poland					5			16				27 M28	48
Italy					21		12					074 KC-767, 3 A319	40
Greece					15		8						23
Portugal					6			12					18
Romania					5		7		4				16
Belgium	1				11								12
Czech Republic								4		6		022 A319	12
Sweden					8							033 Saab 340	11
Hungary				(3)					5				8
Bulgaria							3		2	2		011 A319	8
Netherlands					4							032 (K)DC-10	6
Slovakia									2	5			7
Lithuania							3			2			5
Denmark					4								4
Finland								3				011 F27	4
Austria					3								3
Croatia												022 An-32B	2
Ireland								2					2
Latvia										1			1
Slovenia										1			1

See also

• Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF)
• European Security Strategy
• Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
• European Defence Agency

Notes

1. The British Armed Forces are a purely professional force and as of 1 April 2013 have a strength of 205,810 regular and 28,670 volunteer personnel. This gives a combined component strength of 205,330 personnel. All figures exclude the University training units.

References

1. EU military staff
2. ^ Defence Data Portal, Official 2012 defence statistics from the European Defence Agency
3. Italy's Foreign Minister says post-Lisbon EU needs a European Army, The Times. 2009-11-15
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5. EU military at Bastille Day celebration. Irishtimes.com (7 July 2007). Retrieved on 2011-12-17.
6. Article 42, Treaty on European Union
7. Council of the European Union (July 2009). "EU BATTLEGROUPS" (PDF). Europa web portal. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
8. Waterfield, Bruno (18 February 2009). "Blueprint for EU army to be agreed". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
9. Council of the European Union (April 2003). "Overview of the missions and operations of the European Union". Europa web portal. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
10. Council of the European Union. "CSDP structures and instruments". Europa web portal. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
11. "The Russo-Georgian War and Beyond: towards a European Great Power Concert, Danish Institute of International Studies". Diis.dk. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
12. "Treaty of Lisbon". EU.
13. ^ EU-US Defence Data 2011, European Defence Agency, September 2013
14. Croft, Adrian (19 September 2012). "Some EU states may no longer afford air forces-general". Reuters. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
15. "Britain and France to work together", By Catherine Field, 4 November 2010
16. Franco-British military cooperation: a new engine for European defence?, 14 February 2014
17. "Q&A: UK-French defence treaty". BBC News. 2 November 2010.
18. ^ "The 15 countries with the highest military expenditure in 2012 (table)" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
19. "Key defence figures 2012" (PDF) (in French). Defense.gouv.fr.
20. Table 3a—Strength of UK Armed Forces—full time trained and untrained personnel at website of Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA), 1 April 2013
21. Table 9—Strength of the volunteer reserve forces at website of Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA), 1 April 2013
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23. Jane's Fighting Ships 2009
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32. Template:Pl icon Marynarka Wojenna. Mw.mil.pl. Retrieved on 2011-12-17.
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35. Slovensko obalo bo varovala "Kresnica" :: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija. Rtvslo.si. Retrieved on 2011-12-17.
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41. "F-35 Test Aircraft Transferred to the Netherlands". LockheedMartin. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
42. "RAF – A400m." RAF, MOD. Retrieved: 15 May 2010.
43. "Eurofighter World 2013/11" November 25, 2013
44. Cassidian delivers 100th Eurofighter to the German Air Force.
46. "Spain offers Eurofighters to Peru". Flightglobal.com. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.

External links

• The Armed Forces of the European Union, 2011 - 2013, by Charles Heyman. - Good overview of every armed force within the EU, detailed equipment inventories.

• Use dmy dates from March 2013
• Military of the European Union