Germany 'has become a drag on NATO'

04 May 2012

By Joel Shenton

Germany must overcome its historical and cultural objections to using its military abroad or it will continue to be, as one US ambassador described it, 'a drag on NATO', a Lords committee has warned.

The House of Lords EU Sub-Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Development said that America had delivered a 'wake-up call' when it announced it would focus its defence efforts on the Asia-Pacific region in future, and that Europe would need all of its major economies to take part in collective defence efforts.

As Europe's largest economy, Germany has prospered while the country's politicians have broadly declined to take a lead role in security operations protecting economic interests abroad, the committee heard in evidence.

Nicholas Burns, former US ambassador to NATO, said that Germany could field a strong army, navy and air force if it had the will but that a weak defence budget and lack of political commitment had left it to become 'a drag on NATO' instead.

Germany spent €31.68bn (£26bn), less than 1.5 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product, on defence in 2012, but the country is said to be planning to decrease that amount to €30bn (£24.3bn) by 2015.

"As America looks elsewhere it is time the EU took up the challenge of ensuring Europe continues to be properly defended," said committee Chairman Lord Teverson.

"If that is to be the case Germany, Europe's biggest economy and a key player in every other area of EU activity, must play a bigger role in European defence. It cannot be left to the UK and France to continue to carry the burden of European military capacity."

With more than 4,000 troops in Afghanistan, Germany is currently the third largest troop-contributing nation behind the US and UK, but the country initially refused to deploy personnel to combat areas, a move described as a 'bitter disappointment' by ambassador Burns.

Last year Germany also declined to take part in NATO military operations over Libya and the committee heard that the country's political culture is resistant to collective defence programmes.

In order to boost wider European defence, EU countries should set out a strategic plan highlighting what each was willing to commit to collective defence and under what circumstances. Two 1500-strong EU Battlegroups, established in 2007 under European Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), have never been deployed.

The committee supported Europe's continued participation in NATO, but added that the union should start to consider EU-only humanitarian and peacekeeping missions.

"If EU Member States are to act together to improve European defence capabilities there needs to be strategic plan set out between them as to when they will act in unison to deploy troops. Between them EU member states have more military personnel than the US, what is lacking is the organisation to coordinate those troops and the political will to deploy them when needed."

The European Defence Agency (EDA), which aims to boost industrial cooperation between European countries, was also criticised for not producing a substantial programme in the six years of its existence. The committee said the EDA should also work to enable more programmes similar to 2010's Anglo French cooperation treaty.