Poland's military is the sixth largest in Europe, comprising 100,000 full-time personnel Courtesy of US Department of Defense

Since the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in 2007, plans for the development of a common European Union defense strategy have been gaining momentum. Now, at a time when the continent’s national defense budgets are feeling the pinch, the rationale for closer cooperation on defense within the EU is becoming stronger.

Already, some important progress has been made on increasing intra-European cooperation, with Poland taking a leading role.

According to Poland’s Ministry of Defense, the country’s long-term defense policy sees more value for money in sharing military capabilities with its EU neighbors.

“In our opinion there is certainly a chance for greater cooperation in defense in Europe. Europe needs it if we want to develop the required military capabilities in times of financial crisis. The question of course is how close this cooperation can be,” Deputy Defense Minister Zbigniew Włosowicz told WBJ.

Pulling together

A time when European armies, navies and air forces will share their hardware under the aegis of a single European force is still a long way off, but the Polish government is keen to seek a central role for itself in making those plans a reality.

Pooling resources would have the obvious advantage of helping EU governments find savings in their defense budgets.

“From my perspective, closer cooperation or even integration can refer especially to some capabilities which are particularly expensive to be developed autonomously and are especially vital for conducting external operations, such as strategic transport, reconnaissance or logistics,” said Mr Włosowicz.

Poland is gaining a stronger foothold in the area of EU defense decision-making. In October, top officials from the European Defence Agency (EDA) and a number of top European defense industry consultants and firms gathered in Warsaw for the first European Defence Conference. According to Jan Wind, head of Wiser Consultancy, a Netherlands-based defense and security technology consulting firm and co-organizer of the conference, Warsaw was chosen as the host city because Poland currently holds the EU Presidency and because its government is taking an active role in defense cooperation.

“Poland is becoming a more important player [in European defense policy],” said Mr Wind.

In Brussels, Polish representatives are pushing for greater defense cooperation. Member of the European Parliament Krzysztof Lisek, a Pole and an ardent advocate of greater EU defense cooperation, told delegates at the EDA conference that “promoting the idea of pooling and sharing capabilities is a necessity.” He also urged for a “level playing field for defense production” across Europe.

Polish priority

Poland's armed forces have been involved in military action in both Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years Courtesy of the US Department of Defense

At the outset of Poland’s presidency of the EU, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government made it clear that Poland would use the opportunity to try to develop the Common Security and Defence Policy. Looking at the first four months of Poland’s turn as head of the EU Council, progress has been made in the area of pooling and sharing.

The EU’s Defence and Security Procurement Directive, adopted in August, provides a framework for cross-border defense procurement between member states. As such, it goes some way towards fighting against national protectionism, which has proven to be the biggest stumbling block for establishing joint military production initiatives between EU member states. This new directive, introduced during Poland’s presidency, is a first step towards improving competition and achieving lower prices within the European defense industry.

However, achieving greater collaboration between NATO and the EU in the area of defense, another goal of the Polish presidency, has been less fruitful.

Though the Polish Ministry of Defense’s official stance is that NATO and the EU face the same political challenges, the Polish decision not to participate in NATO’s Libya campaign suggests otherwise. It is clear that the priorities of EU defense ministries, most of which are also members of the NATO club, are not always aligned with NATO policy. The fact that six EU states are not affiliated with NATO also complicates greater EU-NATO cooperation.

Even among EU members, it will be hard to convince big players like the UK of the benefits of forming a common EU defense force. In October, Liam Fox, who was then the UK’s defense secretary, said that plans for an EU defense force that would act separately from NATO were “nonsense.” With such resistance, achieving closer EU and NATO collaboration by the end of Poland’s EU presidency just might prove too difficult.

Patchwork of alliances

NATO aside, a whole patchwork of internal EU alliances jar with the concept of forming a harmonized intra-European defensive partnership. Last November French President Nicholas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister David Cameron signed a number of far-reaching agreements, leading to the creation of a joint expeditionary force, the sharing of aircraft carriers and combined efforts to improve the safety and effectiveness of the nuclear weapons held by both countries.

Poland, too, is keen to maintain local alliances, as evidenced by a recent renewal in interest in the Weimar Triangle, a loose grouping of Poland, Germany, and France which endeavors to bolster economic, cultural and military exchanges between the three countries. In July, the countries signed an agreement in Brussels to establish the Weimar Combat Group, a unit of 1,700 soldiers which is planned to be ready for deployment in crisis zones from 2013.

Meanwhile, the EU’s so-called neutral states, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Malta and Sweden, have all been reluctant to commit to the idea of creating a unified EU defense force.

Navigating through this patchwork of agreements and managing to convince doubters will not be an easy task for supporters of an EU defense force. If anything is clear from the long, drawn-out process that led to the creation of the Lisbon Treaty, it’s that significant opposition from some EU member states will have to be surmounted before the bloc is able to form any type of unified defense force.

Bulking up

Across Europe, national defense ministries have had to endure tough cuts in 2011. On the face of it, Poland’s Ministry of Defense has not had to endure the same cuts as Germany, France and Britain, whose armed forces have, this year, felt the hard pinch of current economic realities. Poland has bucked this trend, increasing its defense expenditures. With roughly 100,000 full-time personnel, Poland’s military is the sixth-largest in the EU.

According to figures published by Poland’s Defense Ministry, the Polish government allocated zł.27.2 billion for defense expenditures in 2011, which amounts to 1.95 percent of GDP. That figure clocks in just below NATO’s goal for its members to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense.

Poland is also keen to modernize its defense forces. According to the Defense Ministry, zł.6.63 billion was set aside for capital investments, which suggests Poland may be set to buy new armaments.

Nevertheless, the Polish government remains pragmatic in its vision for its potential role at the heart of any future EU defense structure. “We want to be active. At the same time we are realistic: We will not be in the lead in this process,” Deputy Minister Włosowicz said. “Our potential is limited in comparison with countries like Germany, France or Great Britain. Despite this, Poland can be an attractive partner in some specific areas. We are experienced in the operational use of some advanced equipment. This can be used as a basis of cooperation in terms of training or logistics,” he added.

Poland’s short-term defense plans seem well mapped out: keep defense expenditure at an average rate of 2 percent of GDP, while working hard with the European Defence Agency to foster greater sharing of hardware and personnel between member states.

In the long term, expect Poland to continue to push for greater EU defense cooperation and stronger capabilities. Poland sees it in the EU’s interest to have a robust force that can act in large conflicts. But convincing those that disagree is the first battle that has to be won.

LIam Nolan