Javier Solana sets out his views on the importance of EU cooperation in the face of current security threats

After the recent enlargement of the European Union, 25 sovereign states live together in peace and prosperity. Our combined population of more than 450 million citizens is twice that of the United States. The EU represents a quarter of the world's gross national product. We are a major economic and trading partner and the biggest donor of development aid.

European politicians and publics recognise that because of our size and interests, because of our history and values, we have an obligation to take our share of responsibilities in this global age. We could, in theory, walk away from these responsibilities – but we could not escape the consequences of doing so. I am convinced that the same reasons that give us responsibilities – our size and interests, our history and values – also equip us to take responsibilities.

The real choice therefore is not whether we play a global role, but how we play that role. To defend our interests and values, and to meet our responsibilities in a consistently effective manner, demands that we act together. To put it bluntly, Europe can choose to speak with a single voice, or Europe can decide not to be heard. Despite the occasional setback – perhaps because of these setbacks – I think we have all learnt this lesson.

The European Security Strategy, approved by EU heads of state and government in December 2003, sets out a solid consensus on basic European security issues. The Security Strategy is an important frame of reference both for long-term European strategies and for current political problems, and a basis for discussion and consultation with our major partners on central strategic issues.

For almost half a century the defining threat to Western Europe was that from the Soviet Union. The threat to European security is no longer one of large-scale territorial aggression. Today threats come from several sources: terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, state failure and organised crime. The nature of these threats is complex, often interwoven, and their potency is not always immediately obvious. Individual states cannot afford to ignore these threats, but neither can we ignore the reality that no single state has the resources alone to tackle them.

Threats that are trans-national in character can only be effectively addressed through trans-national action. For the European Union that means more effective co-operation to tackle terrorism; it means strengthening both the legal and the practical constraints on proliferation; it means a commitment to resolve regional conflicts and rebuild failing states. None of these new threats is purely military. To succeed, we need a mix of instruments.

Europe’s security agenda is not an exercise in theory. We want to make a real, practical contribution to Europe’s security. I believe that collectively we are beginning to take on that greater share of the security burden that has long been required of us. In the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia the EU combined its political role with a successful military mission, and followed-on with a police mission.  Last year, responding to an urgent request from the United Nations, we undertook a challenging military operation to maintain peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Bosnia, we have taken over responsibility from the UN for an important police mission, and we are preparing to take responsibility for what until now has been a NATO military mission in that same country.

The point is not that the EU is a rival either to the United States or to NATO. The point is that in the contemporary world there is an important contribution to security that can be assumed by a political union able to deploy, efficiently and effectively, an integrated package of military, civil, economic, diplomatic and humanitarian tools. As the European security contribution becomes more effective, so we become a more valuable pillar within NATO and partner to the United States.

It was the goal of greater military effectiveness that encouraged EU heads of state and government to agree to create the European Defence Agency in December 2003. The agency establishment team took up its duties a few months ago. I am extremely pleased with the progress that we have made so far under the outstanding leadership of Nick Witney, on loan to the EU from Whitehall. The agency will start working this year and its main task will be to encourage armaments co-operation between member states in general, but also in the case of individual projects, to strengthen the European armament industry, make it more competitive and make progress with research co-operation.

We all know that the contemporary security environment means that our forces must become more flexible, deployable and mobile. To achieve this we need to spend more or spend better. The current background of budgetary constraints makes it difficult to spend more. An essential key to improving capability will therefore involve overcoming fragmentation and reducing unnecessary duplication. By systematically using pooled and shared assets, as recommended in our Security Strategy, duplication and overheads can be reduced and, in the medium term, capabilities increased.

The proposal put forward early in the year by the United Kingdom, France and Germany for the development of "battle groups", deployable at short notice in a crisis area and capable of carrying out their mission there independently over a given period, went some way towards meeting this aim. Moreover, at a meeting of EU defence ministers in May, it was agreed that we should be able to implement a crisis management operation within 15 days of approving the respective crisis management general concept. Rapid response is indeed of the essence.

Creation of a permanent EU-cell in NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and the establishment of a NATO liaison group within the EU Military Staff will bring further improvements in the area of crisis management, where co-operation with NATO is already good. Creation of an EU civilian/military planning cell (capable of rapidly setting up an operation centre from which to conduct civilian-military operations once such a decision has been taken by the Council) should ensure that the EU uses all the means at its disposal to maximum effect in future.

Experience with recent crises has shown that they cannot be solved through military means alone. Long-term crisis management requires the effective interaction of all instruments. Alongside our efforts to bolster military capabilities, we must also enhance European effectiveness in key civilian areas such as the rule of law, policing, civil administration and protection.

Enlargement of the European Union to 25 member states is a moment of celebration, of opportunity, and of challenge. In the space of less than two generations our continent has been transformed. A Europe of war, strife and destruction has been progressively put behind us. In its place has been built a Europe of democracy, stability and prosperity. The vital contribution of the United Kingdom to that construction is widely recognised beyond your shores. With your help and encouragement we have found a formula that allows our precious diversity to flourish in peace and unity.

An enlarged EU will allow us to spread security, stability and prosperity within and beyond our continent. It will allow us better to tackle those many contemporary threats that do not respect frontiers. And it will enhance the opportunities for Europe to act as a positive force in the world.

Javier Solana is EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy

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