The Importance Of The Berlin Plus Agreement

Introduction

The Berlin Plus Agreement was signed on 16th December 2002 by Javier Solana, the European Union High Representative for the Common and Security Policy and George Robertson, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The main purpose is to enhance a bilateral cooperation on international security. The first mission held through the Berlin Plus agreement was promoted by the EU in Macedonia and Bosnia (2003). Named Concordia it provided concrete evidence of the importance of the Berlin Plus to be effective in order to safeguard Europe. After Concordia, a small but successful operation, the Berlin Plus Agreement was once again used for a military mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. EUFOR Althea was launched on 2nd December 2004 and has been going on until nowadays. Nevertheless these were the only missions undertaken within the framework of the Berlin Plus Agreement.
Europe Common Foreign Security Policy (CFDP) was created in response to the lack of means from the EU during the Balkan Wars in the early 1990's. The Berlin Plus Agreement is a treaty created to legitimize the use of NATO means and expertise by the EU. Nevertheless politics had a huge impact in the effectiveness of the Berlin Plus Agreement. Before the creation of CSDP in the St Malo Act in 1998 – held during the Washington Summit - political tensions between Turkey and Cyprus/ Greece which had been going on since 1981 reached a climax after Greece became part of the then European Community (EC). Restrictions arouse between the EU and Turkey, their relationship worsened. The tension resulted from the EU recognition of Cyprus independence, whereas Turkey refused to legitimize it. The outcomes of these tensions were to jeopardize t...

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...hree months) and a mission that would mean dealing with a real threat to national security. Furthermore the question about France ends up being very central in the CSDP question since France is the state that most pressures the EU to take part in military missions. Would CSDP exist if France was not there to pilot missions?
Many European officials take the Foreign Policy of the EU for granted. The EU has been successful in the three missions engaged independently from NATO. Furthermore the main distinctiveness of the EU is its civilian comprehensive approach. Therefore this should be the main engagement of the EU. Even though the EU needs to have some security and defence protection for its borders, it should bear in mind that NATO exists to protect and defend its Member States and nothing less. Therefore NATO should not be ignored by the EU when CSDP is engaged.