Brexit and U.K. MOD

Get ready for Brexit

The UK will leave the EU on 31 October 2019.

from Institute For Government, U.K.

Defence is not a competence of the EU, but its member states do work together on a number of defence-related issues, including research on defence technologies and joint military deployments. The UK’s involvement in these programmes will be affected by its decision to leave the EU. It also has important bilateral arrangements with individual member states, including France and Poland.

NATO remains the overarching structure for European (and wider) defence cooperation.

How do the UK and EU cooperate on defence and security now?

The UK participates in EU security and defence initiatives through the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The CSDP – previously known as the European Security and Defence Policy – was set up by the UK and France following the St Malo Summit of 1998 in response to the perceived failure of the EU to address the challenges of the Balkan Wars. It was designed to allow EU member states to combine their security and defence efforts should the need arise.

Under the CSDP, EU member states pool funding and resources to achieve agreed common goals, including:

• humanitarian and rescue missions
• conflict prevention and peacekeeping
• joint disarmament operations
• military advice and assistance
• crisis management
• post-conflict stabilisation.

The European Defence Agency plays an important role within the CSDP. It coordinates defence planning and assists EU member state governments with weapons development.

The majority of the initiatives carried out through the CSDP are civilian, as opposed to military missions, meaning they use non-military personnel and/or tools.

EU missions have included:

• European Union Force Althea, supporting the implementation of the Dayton Agreement in Bosnia Herzegovina
• European Union Naval Force Atalanta, to combat piracy off the Horn of Africa
• Operation Sophia, which identifies and disposes of vessels used for people trafficking in the Mediterranean.

Involvement is not mandatory. Member states choose which operations they wish to be involved in, and national troops cannot be deployed without the member state’s agreement.

What does the UK currently contribute to EU defence and security activities?

The UK provides significant financial support to EU security activities through its contribution to the EU budget, approximately 16% of which is financed by the UK. In 2018 the EU spent around €328 million on its Common Foreign and Security Policy, which provides the funding for civilian CSDP missions.

It also provides personnel, expertise and equipment for EU missions, most notably maritime support to combat piracy off the horn of Africa and to prevent people smuggling in the Mediterranean. The Ministry of Defence’s Permanent Joint Headquarters are the operational headquarters for some EU missions, including Operation Atalanta.

Despite the UK’s military power, it is not the biggest contributor to EU defence missions. UK engagement in CSDP missions has been relatively modest in comparison to its defence capabilities – the House of Lords EU Committee found that the UK has contributed just 2.3% of total member state personnel contributions across all CSDP missions. The cost of providing personnel falls to the member state, rather than being supported by the EU budget.

How does the UK’s defence capability compare to the rest of the EU?

The UK is arguably the EU’s strongest defence power. It is one of only two member states possessing ‘full-spectrum’ military capabilities (including a nuclear deterrent), and is one of only six member states meeting the NATO target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defence.

The UK also holds a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and has the largest military budget within the EU.

What other structures exist to support EU security cooperation?

Since the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016, other EU member states and EU institutions have taken steps to strengthen their military cooperation. There are a number of components to this, including:

• A European Defence Fund, which will fund research and development to support European defence companies.
• The Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), which the EU says will “deepen defence cooperation and…coherence of spending plans”.  

While it is still a member state, the UK will participate in these initiatives. The EU has also established Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), which aims to “to jointly develop defence capabilities and make them available for EU military operations”. The UK, along with Denmark and Malta, has chosen not to participate in PESCO. 

The EU also cooperates on wider security matters, including policing and criminal justice. It is also building a global satellite navigation system, known as Galileo, which provides services to individuals, businesses and public bodies, including on a secure platform used by policing and military authorities. The UK has contributed funding and expertise to the Galileo systems, and hosts key Galileo infrastructure on its south Atlantic territories

Will we have more control over our defence and security policy after Brexit?

The power to develop and implement security and defence policy lies with member states, not the EU.

When decisions are made at EU level – on whether or not to deploy troops, for example – they require unanimity among member state representatives. Any member state can veto a decision. It has always been the choice of the UK Government whether or not to deploy British troops. Brexit will not change that in any way.

What do the UK and EU want security cooperation to look like after Brexit?

In the Chequers white paper, the UK Government proposed “a tailored partnership with the EU” on foreign policy, defence and development. This would see continued military collaboration between the UK and EU member states, on a case-by-case basis to maintain UK and EU sovereignty, as well as close working on military research and development, including through the European Defence Agency and the European Defence Fund.

More recently, the Political Declaration accompanying the proposed Withdrawal Agreement expresses the intention of the UK and the EU to “establish a broad, comprehensive and balanced security partnership” including “ambitious, close and lasting cooperation on external action”.

In January 2018 the European Commission set out its considerations for the future relationship with the UK on defence and security. It noted that it is in the EU’s interest to continue cooperation in these areas. However, the Commission also noted that the UK cannot continue to host EU military operational headquarters (Operation Atalanta is currently run out of the UK) or remain in command of EU operations.

For Much more Visit the Institute website.