By Ben Kerrigan-
The President of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, has said that the European Union needs a military headquarters to work towards a common military force. Speaking to MEPs in Strasbourg,
Juncker said the lack of a “permanent structure” resulted in money being wasted on missions.
He admitted that the bloc faced an existential crisis, but he said it had to deliver “concrete results” in response, highlighting priorities including ensuring stability, security and tackling social injustice”. Juncker expressed an urgent requirement for the UK to accelerate the process of Brexit, adding that the UK could not expect a selective “a la carte” access to the internal market without accepting free movement of people.
The shock Brexit outcome of the referendum has ignited plans for greater defence co-operation in the European Zone, an idea pushed mainly by Juncker. At the same time, the UK has always been averse to any potential conflict with the interest with Nato- one reason UK will also have a common defence interest in mind.
Mr Juncker said a common military force “should be in complement to Nato”, that is consistent with principles of Nato. However, this is not the same as saying that such common military force will be in conjunction with Nato.
More defence in Europe doesn’t mean less transatlantic solidarity,” he said, adding that ”A European Defence Fund would stimulate military research and development, he said.
“Above all, Europe means peace. It is no coincidence that the longest period of peace began with the formation of the European community,” he said.
His rhetoric seems to be loaded with ambiguity, the sort of potential hidden meanings with worrying implications. If Europe means peace, outside Europe seems to suggest war. After all if the formation of the European Community has led to the longest period of peace, the rational extrapolation is that solidarity in the Union guarantees peace, whilst separation or splits leaves open the possibility of war. The latter implication or potential seems to be observable in Juncker’s next sentence when he says that splits in the Union had led to “galloping populism” and Europe had to be protected from them, he said.
Still, he cannot be charged with any allegation in relation to compromising the ideal of peace, since his expressed goals relate to peace, even if he is covertly speaking to us in parables . Juncker still managed to lay into the recent attacks on immigrants in the UK, and said he would “never accept Polish workers being beaten up and harassed on the streets of Essex”. Such hate crimes are truly deplorable, but how does Juncker intend to address it if he won’t accept it? Fly a military plane over Polish communities, and wait for the first racist to strike, after which he would deliver a dirty bomb on them? Well, he said no such thing, but it does make one wonder exactly what he means when he comes out with two edged comments.