Britain will be expected to plan national defence with the rest of the European Union after David Cameron agreed to accelerate joint military operations

David Cameron signs up to more joint military operations with Europe

Under a deal reached in Brussels yesterday, leaders of all 27 EU countries promised to “strengthen” Europe’s ability to deploy troops “rapidly and effectively” in any future crisis.

They committed to “systematically considering cooperation” across Europe whenever EU member states begin drawing up their national defence plans.

Downing Street sources said the Prime Minister was “entirely happy” with the new arrangements. Britain already has a formal treaty with France for sharing defence capabilities, such aircraft carrier capacity.

Government sources said the new agreement would pave the way for Britain to extend this collaboration beyond France to other countries.

However, the Prime Minister immediately faced a backlash from his own Conservative MPs, who warned it was the first step to creating a European army.

The development comes as five countries - France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland – prepare to step up moves for a formal joint EU military command structure and an operational headquarters.
Some fear the new arrangement will provide a European rival to Nato.
Douglas Carswell, Conservative MP for Clacton, said: “This really shows that we can’t trust our negotiating team. You turn your back for two minutes and they go and sign up to something as daft as this.
“This might look like a good deal for those in Number 10 but outside Westminster it is anything but a good deal.
“If anyone seriously believes that it is in our national interest to hand over our defence to the people running the euro then we would need our heads examined.”
The British diplomats who are permanently based in Brussels are “beyond scrutiny so they end up negotiating their way into these ludicrous positions”, he said.
“In the 1970s, this country was run by those who believed in managing decline. To me, this is decline management. I thought to Conservative Party was supposed to try and stop this sort of thing.”
Tory MP Peter Bone said: “The Conservative Party position has always been that Nato is the bedrock of the defence of Europe.
“The idea of a European defence force is something that we’ve absolutely been against.
“The Prime Minister will have to come to the House of Commons on Monday and clarify the position. Even if this is only a first step it is worrying.
“We know how the European Union behaves. Slice by slice they will expand their influence and what begins as cooperation will end up as a Euro Army, which is something we have always been opposed to.
“The Prime Minister will have to answer that. If this is a shift in position it won’t be acceptable to the party or the country.”
Francois Hollande, the French President, said that France was a strong supporter of “defence Europe”.
“There is a willingness to strengthen defence capacity and to develop a European defence industry,” he said.
“We want to act in Europe. In order to be heard at the international level, defence resources are fundamental. So we agree to cooperate, we agree to hold joint missions.”

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