Focus on Germany London Office The Chandlery Office 609 50 Westminster Bridge Road GB London SE1 7QY Tel 00 44 20 77 21 87 45 Fax 00 44 20 77 21 87 46 www.feslondon.org.uk On the Way towards a European Army June 2007 SPD Members of the German Bundestag have laid out a plan for the further development of the military dimension of European Foreign and Security Policy. It envisions a series of concrete steps for the deepening of military cooperation in Europe. In the long run, these steps could open up the way to the creation of a European army. The European Union has 27 member states, 490 million citizens and accounts for a quarter of the world’s gross national product, making it far more than a confed­eration of states: the EU is a global player. The European Union’s political and eco­nomic significance entails the responsibility of making an appropriate contribution to­wards the resolution of conflicts, including those located beyond its own continent. The European Union can, and must, con­tribute towards building a freer and safer world. A common foreign, security and defence policy is necessary in order to give Europe a voice. Europe must act as a single entity if it wishes to be recognized alongside the United States and the growing powers of China and India. __________________________________ The paper has been written by members of the SPD parliamentarian party’s working groups on Europe and defence questions in the Bundestag: Hans-Peter Bartels, Jörn Thießen, Ursula Mogg, Steffen Reiche, Andreas Weigel, Michael Roth, Rainer Arnold, Gerd Höfer, Petra Heß The European security strategy, passed at the Brussels summit of December 2003, forms a good mutual basis for new im­pulses in the area of security and defence policy. Europe’s responsibility possibilities and The European Union is characterised by a great diversity of historically rooted foreign policy and security traditions. The defence policies of the individual member states display substantial differences, in areas such as strategic planning, equipment, structure of the forces or in leadership style. But there are more factors uniting than di­viding us. Europe shares a common set of European values. The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, for which the ratifi­cation process should be continued, formu­lates the fundamental convictions guiding the states of Europe: “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, de­mocracy, equality, the rule of law and re­spect for human rights, including the