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Germany speaks out in favour of European army

Maximus Zeebra

Maximus Zeebra

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EUObserver said:
German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has said Berlin supports the long term goal of creating a European army, which will bolster the EU's role as a global player.
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Guido Westerwelle said:
he EU's new institutional rules, the Lisbon Treaty, are "not the end but, rather, the beginning for common security and defence policy.

The long term goal is the establishment of a European army under full parliamentary control," he said, noting that the German government "wants to advance along this path.

This is not intended to replace other security structures. More Europe is not a strategy directed against anyone. No one has any reason to fear Europe, but everyone should be able to depend on Europe.
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So what do Americans thnk about this, how about Europeans, and how about others?

This is a work in progress since the Maastricht treaty. But I mean, "under full parliament control" :confused:

Germany has the biggest say in the parliament.
 
Sounds like a great idea. What could go wrong?
 
A European Army is almost inevitable. I do feel that the European Union needs to evolve a bit more before it undertakes such a task. For instance, the line between the Commission and Parliament has not receded much recently, as both have a portion of authority for making EU legislation. I would prefer that the EU increase this distinction, as the Commission is purely bureaucratic without any EU Citizen supervision (i.e. public election) whereas the Parliament is elected.

I would rather the Army be established in an arena where the public say is the dominating factor, not suits.
 
Maximus Zeebra said:
So what do Americans thnk about this, how about Europeans, and how about others?

This is a work in progress since the Maastricht treaty. But I mean, "under full parliament control" :confused:

Germany has the biggest say in the parliament.
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Oh look another nail in the coffin of what ever sovereignty those countries might have left.
 
jamesrage said:
Oh look another nail in the coffin of what ever sovereignty those countries might have left.
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James,

This does not rule out the plausibility of a Nation-State army and a European Army co-existing.
 
Maximus Zeebra said:
So what do Americans thnk about this, how about Europeans, and how about others?

This is a work in progress since the Maastricht treaty. But I mean, "under full parliament control" :confused:

Germany has the biggest say in the parliament.
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The EU is a just a baby version of what the U.S. is now.
But have no fear, each of your "independent" countries will all loose their sovereignty soon enough.
 
Arch Enemy said:
James,

This does not rule out the plausibility of a Nation-State army and a European Army co-existing.
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I think one of many ideas is to have national militaries that is integrated in a European military in a useful way to make up that European military. Which could for example mean there is more need for an army in Poland and less in the UK, while more need for Navy in the UK, and less in Germany.

Such things, for example.
 
Winnb said:
The EU is free to do as they please.
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No, not really, they are only free to do what member states agree on. The EU is not a state in itself like the US.

Anyways.. I mean, American perspective on this would be interesting. Would you see it as helpful, dangerous, detrimental or what exactly?
 
Maximus Zeebra said:
No, not really, they are only free to do what member states agree on. The EU is not a state in itself like the US.

Anyways.. I mean, American perspective on this would be interesting. Would you see it as helpful, dangerous, detrimental or what exactly?
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They are free to do as they please from my perspective.

I think a standing EU army is probably a slightly paranoid response to the growing economic and military power of the Communist government in China. I'm not saying that the EU shouldn't be concerned, but a standing EU army is going to be expensive if all nations keep their own armies plus an EU army.

I certainly don't see it as dangerous to America.
 
Europe have it's own army to play with?

Cool, then the US can ditch NATO and save beaucoup bucks.

The last time Germany had a real army things got really entertaining, didn't they?
 
Scarecrow Akhbar said:
Europe have it's own army to play with?
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Actually they already do.. They have some command structure in place to take coordinate European action. Especially with co-coordinated "special" forces that are maintained in national militaries to act under European command mainly.
 
Maximus Zeebra said:
No, not really, they are only free to do what member states agree on. The EU is not a state in itself like the US.

Anyways.. I mean, American perspective on this would be interesting. Would you see it as helpful, dangerous, detrimental or what exactly?
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I would say: good luck with that, lol.

Even if it happens, it won't last long. The EU, honestly, doesn't worry me anymore. Everytime unity comes to Europe, it tends to leave rather quickly, the last real unified europe being the Roman Empire, and it was only primarily the west part of europe.
 
American said:
To whom will their allegiance be?
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I'm betting that their alligiance would be to whichever tin-pot dictator is calling the shots. I guess some folks are going to insist that there haven't ever been any tin-pot dictators come to power in Europe.
 
Scarecrow Akhbar said:
Europe have it's own army to play with?

Cool, then the US can ditch NATO and save beaucoup bucks.

The last time Germany had a real army things got really entertaining, didn't they?
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Sureee, if things turn ugly we can always ask the americans to liberate us and rebuild our country....


*yawn*
 
Djoop said:
Sureee, if things turn ugly we can always ask the americans to liberate us and rebuild our country....


*yawn*
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We won't mind doing it...again.
 
Americans are too poor now. We will ask the Chinese instead:mrgreen:
 
Scarecrow Akhbar said:
No, not the next time. I don't see where it's worth the effort.
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You're rights its not.
The EU is already a bigger trading bloc than the US and within 20 years the US will be China's bitch.
 
Maximus Zeebra said:
So what do Americans thnk about this, how about Europeans, and how about others?

This is a work in progress since the Maastricht treaty. But I mean, "under full parliament control" :confused:

Germany has the biggest say in the parliament.
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me...if they can all agree on a foreign policy.
 
Sounds like a good idea to me. It would be a very tough job though, just with the language issues alone!
 
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