https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/n...e-eu-35vfr8wsf
UK may join eight countries in military unit outside EU
Nine European countries, including the UK, have signed a “letter of intent” to create a joint military intervention force operating independently of the European Union.
The planned force for rapid deployment in times of crisis would include Britain after Brexit and was agreed without any involvement from Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign affairs chief. It was also signed by France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia, Spain and Portugal. The scheme is independent from plans for greater EU defence co-operation and has been pushed by France because of concerns that Brexit could create obstacles to European military operations by excluding Britain.
The decision comes amid growing unease, especially in France and Spain, over the EU’s slowness and frequent inability to take foreign policy decisions, especially military intervention. “The deadlines and decisions in the EU are still much too long compared to the urgency that can arise of a critical situation in a country where Europeans would consider that there is a strong stake for their security,” Florence Parly, the French defence minister, said. Britain and France have often expressed concern that an EU marked by diverging geopolitical interests and very different military traditions will never agree to deploy troops in combat.
President Macron proposed the idea for the “European Intervention Initiative” in a speech last September in direct competition to EU plans for a new defence pact known as Permanent Structured Co-operation (Pesco). Pesco will involve 23 out of the EU’s remaining 27 countries after Brexit and is widely regarded as a poor basis for serious military intervention. Its first priority project is a plan for a European medical evacuation and field hospital unit.
Britain’s role in the new force follows initial opposition from Germany which has been resistant to military intervention and is a strong supporter of EU defence co-operation structures that will not include Britain after March next year. The new defence initiative will help Britain’s case for a new security and defence treaty by the time of Brexit next spring. Italy is also expected to join the coalition after a decision was delayed by the forming of a new populist government.