Weimar Group mulls EU military HQ options after UK opposition

摘要

The UK's opposition to a permanent EU operational headquarters (OHO) could lead other nations to form one among a smaller group of countries, according to officials.During a meeting in Brussels of EU foreign ministers on 18 July, the UK once again refused to allow the creation of an OHQ for planning missions under the union's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Other countries - notably France, Germany and Poland - are in favour of the proposal.The impasse could be overcome through utilising the clause on 'permanent structured co-operation' (PSC) in the EU's Lisbon Treaty. This would allow a self-selected sub-group of EU countries to move ahead of the others on an intergovernmental basis in any policy area, including defence."There's no consensus on how to use PSC or how it would apply to defence, that is true," a national diplomat from a major EU country told Jane's on 20 June. "But PSC at least holds out the possibility of looking at the OHQ challenge from a different angle. If the British are going to forever block this issue, which seems to be the case, then maybe the others need to meet this need - go around it -in a different way, such as something intergovernmental. Who knows?"The UK's rejection of the OHQ followed a report to the 27 EU foreign ministers by Catherine Ashton, the union's top official on foreign and security policy, which cited the OHQ's creation as among one of several measures needed to strengthen the EU's ability to carry out CSDP missions.UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the OHQ plan "duplicates NATO structures and permanently disassociates EU planning from NATO planning". He added: "Secondly, it's likely to be a much more costly solution than existing structures; and thirdly, a lot can be done by improving the structures that already exist."