Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-16-Speech-3-344"
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"en.20010516.12.3-344"2
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"Mr President, we object on principle to the accelerating growth of European Union military structures outside the NATO Alliance, with all their attendant costs and politically divisive intent. We believe that the duplication of decision-making bodies and the development of a military staff separate from NATO will inevitably exacerbate policy differences between allies, to the detriment of the transatlantic relationship and the long-term security of our people. The European Union should be focusing its efforts on economic, administrative and humanitarian contributions to crisis management, to complement the military capabilities which should properly be a NATO responsibility. The European Union has not yet learned to deliver and manage its external assistance programmes efficiently or to properly spend the resources that have been allocated to these purposes.
Now it wants more money to spend on yet another ambitious and seriously misguided project. Parliament is being asked to approve a draft supplementary and amending budget of nearly EUR 10 million to fund staff and equipment for the separate European Union military bodies. In addition to some 90 staff redeployed from other tasks or seconded from Member States, 51 extra personnel are now to be recruited to expand the European Union military structures. Can we have an assurance that this total of 141 personnel will not be exceeded? How long will it be before there is a further increase in staff for the European Union military structures?
Mr Blair tells people at home that European Union's defence policy is all about strengthening NATO. Mr Hoon has even said that there is no concept of a European rapid reaction force as such. From what I hear, everyone speaking on this side of the Channel has an entirely different perspective. The aim is to establish an autonomous European Union military capability to underpin a distinctive EU foreign policy in which the Americans are not involved – in due course, a European army. That is a reality. That is what it is all about. It is very dangerous.
Tonight we are discussing an unnecessary EUR 10 million. I wonder how long it will be before we are discussing a defence budget of EUR 10 billion or more. The development of an autonomous EU military capability, separate from NATO, has come about as a direct result of initiatives by the British Labour Government in 1998. Now their project has run out of control. We know who is to blame and we cannot support this budget."@en1
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