What is the EU planning next? The EU Defence Union

EU Commission announces strategic agenda for 2019-2024

“A genuine EU Defence Union” is number 1 item

Ahead of the meeting of EU27 leaders in Romania next week, on 9 May 2019, the European Commission has set out a number of policy recommendations for how Europe can shape its future.

Readers will note that the EU27 leaders will all be meeting without Mrs May being present. She has not been invited, even though Brexit is not being discussed.

The EU insists that the UK still has the "full rights and obligations" of being a member. It seems this means the obligation to keep paying, but not to have any rights - including that of attending meetings of the EU leaders.

What is the EU Commission’s first priority?

Interestingly, the first item is defence. The Commission is continuing to plough ahead with its “European [EU] Security Union”, despite British Remain MPs continuing to deny the EU’s intentions.

Here is what the EU Commission says in its opening statement:-

“1. Protective Europe: We should pursue our efforts to build an effective and genuine European Security Union and move towards a genuine European Defence Union to make defence cooperation within the EU the norm rather than the exception.”
- EU Commission, Strategic Agenda for 2019-2024, 30 Apr 2019

Why is this important for the Brexit debate?

The whole area of a Defence Union is important when it comes to the Brexit debate, for two fundamental reasons.

1. The EU Superstate

Firstly, the EU cannot become a true superstate until it has its own army, navy and airforce. Once member states have placed their forces under EU military structures, they have in effect given up their independence of action. A country without an independent military wholly under its control can no longer be considered to be a sovereign nation.

This is precisely why the EU has been so enthusiastic about the rapid developments it has made towards its “genuine EU Defence Union” in the last three years.

2. Mrs May’s surrender treaty

Secondly, it is Mrs May’s intention through her surrender treaty to persist in tying the UK’s military further into EU military structures and EU foreign policy.

With the full connivance of the Civil Service, the Prime Minister has agreed to all manner of common EU defence measures, SINCE the EU Referendum. Worse still, she has failed to inform MPs in Parliament of what she has been signing up to, as we have reported in detail before.

A good starting point for MPs?

We know that many MPs’ eyes tend to glaze over when EU defence is mentioned. As ever, the EU covers its work with more acronyms than MPs have had hot dinners – EDA, CSDP, PESCO, EDIDP, etc.

This is why we have produced the best 1-pagers on this important subject. Two of them are below. The third summary will deal with the critical subject of Mrs May’s moves to keep the UK and its military shackled to EU foreign and defence policy.

EU Defence Factsheet 1
The Basic Facts

Article and PDF
PDF Only

EU Defence Factsheet 2
UK Taxpayers' Money

Article and PDF
PDF Only

EU Defence Factsheet 3
Mrs May tying UK defence into EU

Need donations

We still urgently need donations towards the cost of completing our trilogy of defence papers for MPs and the public. We need just £195 to complete this work. If you can help, quick and secure donation methods are below.

Just one example of one of the EU’s acronyms – the EDA

The European Defence Agency (EDA) is an intergovernmental agency of the Council of the European Union.

Appointed in November 2014, Federica Mogherini is the Head of the European Defence Agency. She is an unelected EU Commissioner and a former Italian Communist. She is the de facto Defence Secretary and Foreign Secretary of the European Union.

Note the membership of the EDA below, which includes the UK.

Observations

We would love to fill the empty box above – the final part in our trilogy of EU Defence Union one-pagers.

Clearly we have far more information than is contained in these one-page summaries. In the last three years we have published in detail on this subject over 200 times.

The purpose of the one-pagers is to present some of the most relevant information in a punchy and accessible way. By doing this, it makes the topic impossible to ignore. We then hope that more MPs will take an interest and - more importantly - will take up this cause.

We'd love to complete this trilogy and get it promoted to all MPs, and to the public. If you can help with a donation to get us over the line we would be delighted.

[ Sources: EU Commission | EDA ]

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, 03 May 2019

Something to say about this? Scroll down for reader comments

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Reader Comments 8

1. Jon, Wales , Friday, May 03, 2019, 07:24:

Another excellent defence article telling it how it is.
We must consider why UK elected members of Parliament have not [to my knowledge] disclosed this in Parliament. What are they trying to hide?
After the two UK major political parties have just lost many seats in local elections, they deserve everything they get.
The local elections should serve as a wake up call to MPs who persist in trying to subvert the 2016 democratic referendum. When MPs defy a clear instruction to "Leave the European Union" as on the 2016 ballot paper, they do so at their peril.
It is the UK electorate who hold REAL POWER, and the electorate will throw out MPs who defy the democratic majority.
In the UK, we give Parliament our consent to govern over us, and if we don't like what they do we vote them out of office. We only 'lend' MPs our sovereign vote, but they have no mandate whatsoever to allow a foreign entity to govern over us.
MPs should visit the Brexit Index and view all the original defence [and other] articles published, then consider why they never asked for electoral consent?

2. Catherine, Dollar , Friday, May 03, 2019, 07:34:

Thank you, Facts4EU, for another excellent article.
Interesting to see the UK has not been invited to this Council meeting - we need to shout this from all rooftops, for the EU Parliament elections. Tusk and co say they want us to stay/back. They are still taking our money. They want our military capabilities. But they don't want us at the table.

3. Jon, Wales , Friday, May 03, 2019, 13:37:

In light of Catherine's excellent [No:2] comment, perhaps we should lobby our MPs (and government) to withhold monies from the EU. At present we're full members of their political club.
Would any right-thinking person pay for something they don't receive? Imagine doing the shopping and getting only half of what you pay for.
The UK is presently the second highest NET contributor which supports the majority of the EU27, yet our leader is requested to leave the room whilst the EU27 (our competitors) discuss how we may exit, and spend British taxpayers money in THEIR countries as they choke over their slap up dinner with all the trimmings. These people are waited on hand and foot.
Our country is the fifth/sixth largest economy on the planet with a massive 'foreign aid' budget, whilst we see some of own citizens referred to food banks. This is unacceptable and we should look after our own, first and foremost?
As a full member of the political 'club' we're leaving, our leaders have every right to attend ANY meeting they wish whilst we're still in it, regardless.
Indeed, they're entitled to attend, and if not, you withhold monies. Ordinary people are not stupid, but we're not the EU's piggy-bank, and we wont be talked down to by a bunch of unelected foreign bureaucrats.

4. J. Slater , Friday, May 03, 2019, 18:24:

After the Election Results today, I think this will very much concentrate the complacent, superior, 'We know better than the Electorate', attitudes of Remainer MPs. Now is definitely the time to put real pressure on them to do OUR bidding, not Theresa May's. The loss of so many seats by Conservatives and Labour shows they're in 'last chance saloon.'
Declare 29th March 2019 WAS our leaving date, and we are now out of the EU. Nothing more, nothing less.

5. Adam Hiley , Friday, May 03, 2019, 20:54:

absolutely delighted the Tories & Labour got a kicking ignore the protest votes for the Lib Dems & Greens they will get nowhere time to rid ourselves of the LIBLABCONGREENSNP Gang Theresa & Corbyn must go now

6. A Bruce , Friday, May 03, 2019, 21:46:

I've seen a suggestion that Willamson was fired not because of Huwei leak, but because he would not sign up to EDA. I feel that could be plausible, I wonder if there's any confirmation that it's true.

7. Annoyed with political class , Saturday, May 04, 2019, 05:50:

A Bruce, I hope he sues and wins, Williamson was a mere pawn. In fact UK Column yestrday 3rd May had extremely interesting information about the ongoing Hauwei 'leak', there have been 'things going on' for ages but the MSM ignore. We need more and more good investigative journalists.
This set of articles also says it well. Once the armed forces are eu controlled, our country is finished.
No wonder May after losing more than 1,000 council seats says "“We have the privilege of governing our country at a momentous time and we have a responsibility of delivering something truly historic.” Then we have the WA surrender treaty, I am surprised the Conservatives held any seats!

8. Adam Hiley , Saturday, May 04, 2019, 14:45:

if Williamson did do this He did us a favour We should not be getting close to the Chinese at all or the USA if anybody needs removing it's May

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