After an unprecedented series of mishaps, Germany's army, the Bundeswehr, has been making headlines because of outdated and barely usable equipment. One thing seems clear: The country is not in a position to assume a greater role responding to the many crises unfolding in neighboring regions and beyond, not least because of shortfalls in its defense budget. Those shortfalls could be overcome, however, if Europe did more to integrate its armed Forces.
German politicians from across the political spectrum are currently considering ways to reestablish the Bundeswehr as an effective military organization and – above all, in light of cost-saving measures – possibilities for using existing funds more effectively. As a result, many are calling for EU-level solutions in the area of military and defense policy, especially since such solutions could do a lot to reduce financial shortfalls in the medium term.
That is a point Europe's federalists have been making for some time now. They argue that today's challenges in the area of foreign and security policy can no longer be solved on the national level alone and that a joint European military is a key part of the solution. "On the one hand, it's anachronistic for a community to have a common market and common currency, but to continue going separate ways when it comes to security issues," says Stefani Weiss, Europe expert at the Bertelsmann Stiftung in Brussels. "What's more, it's simply illogical and a waste of resources to pay for expensive parallel structures that cannot even fulfill basic security-policy obligations."
The savings that could be achieved by integrating Europe's military forces are indeed huge – savings that could then be reinvested to modernize equipment. As an exploratory study on European added value carried out by the Bertelsmann Stiftung shows, integration of the 28 member states' land forces alone would save €6.5 billion annually in pay for armed forces personnel, if the number of soldiers was reduced from the current 900,000 to a maximum of 600,000, the level laid out in the EU's defense planning. That sum, moreover, does not include savings from reductions in or joint use of infrastructure, equipment and pensions. Analysts estimate that the 28 largely independent armies maintained by the EU's member states generate additional costs of €120 billion each year.
According to the study, those increases in efficiency can, however, only be realized if Europe's armed forces are integrated in a meaningful way. The pooling and sharing of equipment will only work if sufficient usable material is available. That is a precondition Germany's Bundeswehr would currently have great difficulty fulfilling and one that would undoubtedly challenge other armies in the EU as well.
"A common defense policy would create significant European added value by providing the same level of security at a lower cost. It could even increase the quality and international influence of Europe's military without any increase in public spending," Weiss explains. "Naturally, national attitudes oppose a centralized European defense. For many countries, the power to command their own land, air and naval forces remains a symbol of national sovereignty. It's a symbol that has, however, become very costly in view of the current partial integration of Europe's defense structures, and the global impact of Europe's defense efforts is also suffering considerably as a result."
