Page 55 - Signal_winter_17_web

| PESCO |

PESCO: Cooperation Comes With A

Range Of Costs

Ireland’s defence and peacekeeping will influence choice to opt in or out of €500m plan
says Professor Ben Tonra, professor of international relations at UCD school of politics and
international relations.

ederica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign pol-
icy chief, has worked for the last year with EU states
Fon plans to deepen EU co-operation in security and
defence, prompted by growing international dangers.
The list is long: state-sponsored actions, cyber-attacks,
the manipulation of information, fears about Russia’s ac-
tions or instability in Washington, or the humanitarian crisis
of mass migration. Even Brexit has raised tensions.
Ireland faces the same threats. Some are moderated
by geography and by Ireland’s traditional policy of military
neutrality, but others are amplified.
The EU plan, known as Pesco, includes a €500 mil-
lion annual budget for joint security and defence projects,
co-ordinated defence planning and budgeting, and more
shared funding of overseas missions.
In addition, it includes new arrangements for states that The EU Head of
want to pursue intensified defence co-operation, based Foreign Policy, Federica
Mogherini, the driving
upon already-passed treaty rules that allow for so-called force behind PESCO.
permanent structured co-operation (or Pesco).
Irish officials have worked hard to ensure that they can
be reconciled with Irish interests and values, but Ireland and meet new defence spending targets. They could come
must now decide to engage, or opt out. Both options are together to build new equipment, to buy it from others or
open – but each has costs. develop joint military units such as the Belgian-Dutch navy.
Engagement reinforces the government’s position that, The critical point, however, is that each project is created
post-Brexit, Ireland is fully committed to EU membership. on an “opt in” basis and remains wholly voluntary. Moreo-
That signal, however, comes at the price of tough Dáil de- ver, decision-making is in the hands of the member states
bates and the risk of a defeat in a Dáil vote. engaged in that particular project.
It means, too, that Ireland would have to spend more The key principles stress that Pesco is a new “ambitious,
on defence, and work harder on planning. Staying out- binding and inclusive European legal framework” designed
side risks marginalisation, but it would threaten Ireland’s to strengthen Europe’s military capabilities through spe-
defence capacity and possibly limit future peacekeeping cific, collaborative defence projects.
options. Equally, it tries to be inclusive – respecting the needs
On Monday, 23 EU states signed up to pursue more, of Nato and non-Nato members. Finally, the voluntary and
and better defence co-operation. Ireland did not, for now. intergovernmental nature of co-operation is underlined,
Under 2009 legislation, Irish involvement needs a Cabinet and “leaves national sovereignty untouched”.
decision and the support of the Dáil. The language is carefully drawn to accommodate the
interests of non-Nato EU members – especially since Aus-
Deeper Security tria, Finland and Sweden are among those who have al-
It will go to Cabinet shortly, reports suggest. EU foreign ready signed up.
ministers, after they hear from Mogherini, will decide on Irish military neutrality is unaffected – there is no agree-
December 11th whether or not to agree to set up this new ment to come to the defence of others, though Pesco
framework and the rules under which it will operate. clearly implies much deeper defence co-operation than
Greater co-operation was provided for in the 2009 Lis- has been seen before.
bon Treaty, which set down rules on how EU states that
chose to do so could deepen security and defence co- Strategic Gaps
operation with binding and demanding obligations. In particular, Pesco is designed to fill existing strategic
Participating member states would unanimously agree gaps: EU states do not have enough military helicopters,

| WINTER ‘17 | | 53