The Eurocorps military gains momentum in the fight against the pandemic

The various European law enforcement agencies, both national and Eurocorps, have made every effort to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic. From the transfer of patients and healthcare materials, to support with personnel testing and monitoring outbreaks of infection. This has brought back to the table the issue of the need for a "European military health force", especially after the meeting between the French and Spanish defence ministers last month.

The idea of creating a European army was put on the table in November 2018, just as a NATO summit was being held. Both the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the German Chancellor, Ángela Merkel, brought up the subject with a view to the geostrategic future of the Union.

Trump tried to put pressure on the European countries to invest more budget in their defence spending. However, due to the migratory crisis and the great debates about closing the Schengen area, this idea was already in the minds of European governments. At the subsequent parliamentary summits, Merkel took the opportunity to point out, together with the support of French President Emmanuel Macron, that the European Union still had a pending issue: the creation of unitary security forces.

This debate has aroused much criticism and has not been formalised for the time being. The aim was to achieve greater independence from the United States and its military interests, but with the coronavirus pandemic the Eurocorps has found another reason to act and make itself felt.

The fact that there is no official European Union army does not mean that there are no military alliances within the Union. The Eurocorps, with headquarters in Strasbourg, was founded in 1992 by France and Germany. The framework nations place the Eurocorps at the service of the European Union and NATO, which certified it in 2002 as one of its nine high-availability ground headquarters.

Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain are the main countries that make up this international military corps. In addition to the partner countries Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania and Turkey. These diverse security forces held the first official event since the coronavirus health crisis was declared in early 2020.

Taking advantage of these health missions, the Eurocorps has once again made the headlines and raised long-standing debates on whether the European Union should be serious about creating a common army to deal with the future threats Europe may face. 

During this year 2020, the Eurocorps has become one of NATO's Rapid Reaction Forces on the ground (NFR), enabling it to deploy 60,000 soldiers in a few days anywhere in the world where a conflict arises that requires its intervention.

Among the challenges facing this European military unit over the next two years is its deployment in Mali and the Central African Democratic Republic on European Union missions.
 

Last month, the Spanish and French defence ministers held a meeting at which they discussed the Eurocorps, European security, the coronavirus crisis and the Sahel. Both showed their complete collaboration and declared that the armed forces of both countries were working in complete harmony.

"I believe that one of the great unresolved issues facing Europe's defence at the moment is precisely that there can be European military health corps", said Margarita Robles, the Spanish Minister of Defence, during the joint press conference.

With regard to COVID-19, Robles stressed the fundamental contribution of the Armed Forces to the efforts to combat the pandemic, with the current presence of some 2,000 troops for tracking purposes.

The meeting between Robles and her counterpart, Florence Parly, also addressed the situation in the Sahel following the coup d'état in Mali. In this regard, the minister indicated that Spain's commitment to supporting Mali and the Sahel as a whole continues to be a priority. 

This is why the decision has been taken to redouble the effort through the European Union Training Mission in Mali, with an increase in the contingent and providing new air transport capabilities.

"We understand that the fight against terrorism in the Sahel is a priority. We are looking forward to seeing our EUTM-Mali mission (training and advice) back up and running once the new Malian government is in place," Robles said.

For her part, the French defence minister appreciated Spain's active contribution to the fight against terrorism in the centre of Operation 'Barkhane', where a third of the transport on the Sahel scene is provided by a Spanish military detachment.

After the meeting between the two ministers, the Eurogroup was strengthened and the idea of having a Community army is once again resonating in the European Parliament. Many analysts consider this proposal to be unnecessary as, as the Atlantic Alliance (NATO) exists, they do not consider it to be a priority. 

But Trump's recent moves and criticisms within NATO have turned NATO's security policy into low-impact recommendations. The tensions with Turkey and the clashes with Cyprus and Greece have put the organisation in a difficult position to manage, which will undoubtedly bring great headaches to Alliance representatives. Precisely because of this, many do not rule out the creation of a community army.