French President Nicolas Sarkozy has the idea of creating elite defense forces of the European Union on the basis of the 6 largest member countries of this regional organization – France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland.
The project provides, in particular, that the Six will establish uniform “rules of the game” to ensure close integration in the military sphere, in particular, the adoption of a minimum defense budget of 2% of GDP, the creation of a single arms market and the allocation of 10,000 troops for each country joint response forces.
The tasks of the joint EU defense forces will include the implementation of joint anti-terrorist projects, the creation of joint infrastructure defense programs, missile defense systems and intelligence technologies.
Paris will voice its proposals after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in early 2009, which defines the principles of the functioning of the EU and provides for the possibility of “permanent structured cooperation” of the EU countries, including in the military sphere.
Of the 6 countries, only France and the UK are able to bear defense spending in the amount of 2% of GDP.
Another problem is the lack of a single market for armaments and military equipment in the EU.
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