Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 01:59, 23 July 2007

Eurocorps is a force which consists of up to 60,000 soldiers drawn from the armies of Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain. It is independent of any other military command although it can be placed under the command of international organisations. According to its founding treaties the Corps:

1. is to be prepared to carry out humanitarian aid missions and population assistance missions following a natural or technical disaster,
2. can be made available for peace-restoring or peace-keeping missions, for example within the scope of the United Nations Organisation (UN) or the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
3. can be employed as a mechanised army corps in high-intensity combat operations, in order to ensure the common defence of the Allies in application of article 5 of the Washington Treaty (NATO), or of the Brussels Treaty (WEU).

In order to enable integration with NATO in the case of commitment under point 3, the Corps has adopted NATO structures and procedures. However, the Corps is able to perform outside of NATO command.

Organisation

v t e Foreign relations of the European Union
Bilateral relations See also: Economic relationships with third countries Africa Algeria Cape Verde Egypt Libya Morocco South Africa Sudan Tunisia Americas Argentina trade Brazil Canada Colombia Cuba Greenland Mexico Peru United States Uruguay Asia Bahrain Bangladesh China India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Lebanon Malaysia Nepal North Korea Pakistan Palestine† Philippines South Korea Syria Taiwan Vietnam Yemen Europe Albania Andorra Armenia Accession negotiations Azerbaijan Belarus Bosnia and Herzegovina Faroe Islands Georgia Accession negotiations Iceland Kosovo† Liechtenstein Moldova Accession negotiations Monaco Montenegro North Macedonia Northern Cyprus† Norway Russia San Marino Serbia Sovereign Military Order of Malta Switzerland Turkey Accession negotiations Ukraine Accession negotiations United Kingdom Vatican City Oceania Australia Micronesia New Zealand Papua New Guinea Former Yugoslavia General Overseas territories of member states European microstates Largest trading partners Association Agreements Free trade agreements European Union Sanctions †= Disputed state, may not be recognised as an independent state by some or all European Union members.
Multilateral relations and initiatives Organisations Arab League ASEAN Council of Europe ECHR G7 ICC IOC Mercosur NATO UN Initiatives African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States Asia–Europe Meeting CARIFORUM Customs Union Eastern Partnership Energy Community Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly European Common Aviation Area European Economic Area Euro-Mediterranean free trade area Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Euronest Economic Partnership Agreements EU CBRN Risk Mitigation CoE Initiative Neighbourhood Policy Northern Dimension Mediterranean Union Stabilisation and Association Process
Administration and policies Foreign and Security Policy Global Strategy Neighbourhood Policy Enlargement Security and Defence Policy Administration Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development External Action Service Foreign Affairs Council High Representative Josep Borrell Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Foreign Policy Instruments Service Diplomatic missions of the EU (ambassadors) / to the EU Special Representatives Funding Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance Global Europe
v t e Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union Leadership High Representative Director General of the Military Staff/Director of the Military Planning and Conduct Capability Director of the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability Chairman of the Military Committee European Council Foreign Affairs Council Structure External Action Service Command structure on the civilian/military strategic and operational levels (Military Planning and Conduct Capability within the Military Staff, Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability, Joint Support Coordination Cell) Intelligence and Situation Centre (Club de Berne) Crisis Management and Planning Directorate Security & Defence College Agencies Defence Agency Institute for Security Studies Satellite Centre Council preparatory bodies Committee of Permanent Representatives Political and Security Committee Politico-Military Group Military Committee Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management European Commission bodies Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space Funding Defence Fund Policies Security Strategy Everything but Arms Annual Review Equipment Galileo navigation system Secure Software-defined Radio (PESCO) Decorations Service medal Medal for Extraordinary Meritorious Service Monitor mission medal Related Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) Headline Goal 2010 Military Erasmus Military Mobility (PESCO) Intelligence School (PESCO) Kortenberg building NATO relations (Berlin Plus agreement, Joint Declaration)

The Eurocorps is not subordinate to any other military organisation. It is deployed by a decision made by the five member states represented in the Common Committee by each nation's Chief of Defence and Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This committee considers requests for support from multinational organisations such as the UN or EU. The Corps can also be deployed at the behest of the member nations.

Headquarters

The Eurocorps headquarters is based in Strasbourg near the French-German border, the seat of several European instutions. The headquarters contains following units:

• A command group consisting of the senior military commanders of the Corps.
• A Staff of approximately 350 providing support to the command group. The staff includes liaison Officers from the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Finland, Greece, Italy, Canada and Turkey.
• A Headquarters Support Battalion providing protection, transport, food etc. to headquarters. This battalion consists of approximately 330 soldiers but can be significantly reinforced in case of commitments.

A Multi-national Support Brigade is colocated in Strasbourg. This brigade is separate and subordinate to the Corps headquarters and provides additional support when the Corps is deployed. The brigade is formed from units provided by the nations on a case-by-case basis but has a permanent headquarters of 80 personnel.

English is the command language and all personnel assigned to Eurocorps headquarters must be able to use it.

Subordinate units

The five framework countries have earmarked the following units to the Eurocorps:

• The Franco-German Brigade
• 10. Panzerdivision (Ger)
  • Panzergrenadierbrigade 30 (30th Mechanised Brigade)
  • Panzerbrigade 12 (12th Armoured Brigade)
  • Gebirgsjägerbrigade 23 (23rd Mountain Infantry Brigade)
• Etat-Major de Force 3 (Fra)
  • 1 mechanised brigade
  • 1 armoured brigade
• 1 Gemechaniseerde Division/1 Division Mécanisée (Bel)
  • 1 Gemechaniseerde Brigade (1st Mechanised Brigade)
  • 7 Brigade Mécanisée (7th Mechanised Brigade)
• División de Infantería Mecanizada Brunete n. 1 (Esp)
  • Brigada de Infantería Mecanizada "Guzmán el Bueno" X (10th Mechanized Brigade)
  • Brigada de Infantería Mecanizada "Extremadura" XI (11th Mechanized Brigade)
  • Brigada de Infantería Acorazada "Guadarrama" XII (12th Armored Brigade)
• Luxemburg Reconnaissance Company (operationally part of Belgian contingent)

The Franco-German Brigade (along with the Multi-national support Brigade) is under permanent operational command of Eurocorps headquarters. The remaining earmarked units are commanded under the relevant national command; they become subordinate to the Eurocorps headquarters once they are committed for a particular operation. If all units were committed by the member states, the Eurocorps would consist of approximately 60,000 soldiers. In addition to the earmarked forces, Eurocorps is capable of commanding other units of up to divisional size provided by the member states or other countries.

Deployments

It participated in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Kosovo and led the ISAF6 Force in Afghanistan from August 9, 2004, to February 11, 2005.

This military cooperation is still limited to some European countries but it has the goal to enlarge to other ones.

See also

European Rapid Reaction Force

External links

• Official Eurocorps website
• The presentation of the Eurocorps-Foreign Legion concept at the European Parliament in June 2003

• European Union security
• Strasbourg