Where's your head at...

[Bereta_Eder]

So many in the EU want to put forward the common defence policy. To enhance it that is.

And they're talking about increasing the GDP that goes to defence spending.

Greece is propably the only one member state which already fulfills any potential future quota since its defence spending is double that of the average rest of the EU sum due to the "danger from the east".


Of course the US has been breathing long enough down european necks asking them to increase their defence spending and "share the burden".


Votre opinion sur le sujet? (watcha think?)

[Wittlich]

Re: Where's your head at...

Originally posted by paiktis22
Greece is propably the only one member state which already fulfills any potential future quota since its defence spending is double that of the average rest of the EU sum due to the "danger from the east".

Tactfully worded Paiktis!

But I concur, the EU should place part of their combined GDP towards military/force protection measures.

[Richelieu]

I don't know.

In the light of recent events it seems to me that the better your military, the more inclined you are to use it.

[gsmoove23]

How far away is the idea of a unified european military. Seems like a waste to have a number of separate militaries when none of the european countries are ever going to attack each other, hopefully. Doing this would increase the effectiveness of any military expenditure wouldn't it?

[C0ckney]

it's a stupid idea, how are we meant to carry out our secret plan to invade france with a united army.

[Sava]

Somehow this is France's fault.

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by gsmoove23
How far away is the idea of a unified european military. Seems like a waste to have a number of separate militaries when none of the european countries are ever going to attack each other, hopefully. Doing this would increase the effectiveness of any military expenditure wouldn't it?

Yep, definately. We spend still less money than the US, but we even spend it in the wrong ways.

A common foreign/defense/security policy would solve a lot of prolems, however, the devil is in the details (as the recent month have shown).

Since it seems impossible today to get all EU states together on these subjects, many in Germany and France advocate again the idea of a "core Europe". This means those states who agree begin to realise common policies, others can join later. This was succesfully done with several EU projects, however, in the fields of security it is more sensible, because a power block like France/Germany could cause fears of domination in smaller EU states.

[gsmoove23]

power block of France and Germany, I just wet myself.

[BeBMan]

Perhaps you would, if you lived on our borders ...

And I don´t say those feelings are rational, they are rather historic experiences (let´s say, in Poland)

[Az]

as long as there is no federal EU taxation this is just empty babbling.

[yavoon]

on the road to a one nation sort of EU defense would probably be the last step. serious defense that is, not UN security force defense. but decisive largescale armies.

don't u guys have other hurdles to get over first?

[Japher]

yavoon

The EU needs to first disolve what is left of nationalism within the countries before they can successfully defend together... Politics and money don't mix in socialist states... especially where no common interest exists on the political field...

[gsmoove23]

You wouldn't need federal taxation if the amount of money being spent on a national military were simply diverted to a combined military. This is not only sensible for nations who no longer have the need to defend themselves from another but a cost effective step, especially for Germany which seems to have effectively given up on the idea of having a military that can actually defend itself.

[Az]

Originally posted by gsmoove23
You wouldn't need federal taxation if the amount of money being spent on a national military were simply diverted to a combined military. This is not only sensible for nations who no longer have the need to defend themselves from another but a cost effective step, especially for Germany which seems to have effectively given up on the idea of having a military that can actually defend itself.

this was mean as a general unification note. As long as there is no true federal taxation, it's representation doesn't matter. The taxation-representation link works both ways.

[Chris 62]

Good luck Paiktis, this seems unlikely.

BTW, how goes the fight in Greece?

How many planes did you stop from taking off?