Military Credibility for Europe

The Kosovo campaign was another embarrassing reminder to America’s European allies of how overwhelmingly dependent they remain on U.S. military power. While Europeans will be providing most of the peacekeeping forces in Kosovo, the war that won NATO entry into the Serbian province was fought largely with American planes, pilots and technology. But even before the Kosovo peace agreement was reached, the Europeans were planning to become better able to respond independently to regional crises. Washington has welcomed that approach. Now the Europeans must show they have the will to follow through.

Their intention is to give substance to the commitment made by the 15-nation European Union in 1991 to develop a unified security and defense policy. Their target date is late next year. For starters they have chosen Xavier Solana of Spain, NATO’s secretary-general, to be the EU’s foreign and security policy coordinator. The aim is not to replace the Atlantic alliance but to complement it. As a EU statement put it, the Europeans want the capacity for “autonomous action, backed up by credible military forces.” The challenge will be in creating that credibility.

The armed forces of the EU countries exceed those of the United States, and the EU’s collective wealth approaches this country’s. But Europe spends only 2.1% of its gross domestic product on defense, while the United States spends 3.2%, half again as much. Is Western Europe, after relying on U.S. protection and leadership for the last half-century, really ready now to pay what will be required for strong and credible military forces?

Governments all over Europe are cutting spending on popular social programs, whose costs in many cases have become prohibitive. That makes it all the harder for political leaders to win support for spending more on defense. But if the Europeans are serious about being able to deal on their own with regional crises like Bosnia or Kosovo--something they should have been capable of doing before now--bigger defense budgets are unavoidable. The EU must now match its bold promise with bold actions.