Anger at Prodi's EU army plans
Electronic Telegraph
THE creation of a single army in which British soldiers fight under an EU flag and take orders from a European commander is the "logical next step", the new head of the European Commission said yesterday.
In comments which will embarrass Tony Blair a month before the Euro-elections, Romano Prodi, the new EC President, said the EU must build its own army or risk being "marginalised in the new world history". The comments are particularly awkward for the Prime Minister because Mr Prodi, a former Italian premier, was Mr Blair's choice for the post. Downing Street rejected his remarks, saying the idea of a European army was "not something we favour".
Mr Prodi said the single currency meant the EU had already undergone "a real change in the nature of the state" and should now consider a common army. His plan enraged Tory Euro-sceptics who said building such an army would be a major step towards creating a European superstate.
Interviewed by BBC1's On the Record, Mr Prodi accepted that such a force was "years and years" away but said it was a vital next step for Europe. "Unless you will ask somebody else to defend you this is the only alternative."
He said EU nations would be marginalised on the world stage without such a force and that even Britain and France were not strong enough to remain a major military presence in their own right. Asked if he felt the idea of British soldiers fighting for a European commander and under an EU flag were inevitable, Mr Prodi replied "yes. . . . that is inevitable".
The alternative was for Europe to continue spending the equivalent of two-thirds of the US defence budget but having only a tenth of America's military muscle. Citing events in the Balkans as proof of the need for such a force, he said that without a common foreign and defence policy "in a future war you have no voice".
Mr Prodi further angered sceptics by referring to the Commission - which is meant to be the EU's civil service - as the "government". Although a spokesman for Mr Blair said he was "reasonably relaxed" about Mr Prodi's interview, Downing Street rejected his call for a European army.
However, John Maples, the Tory defence spokesman, said Mr Prodi should be slapped down. "It is time for Europe's prime ministers to stop this nonsense and make it clear that Europe's defence policy will depend on the Nato alliance and nothing else."
9 May 1999: Prodi threatened with watchdog
23 March 1999: Prodi wins support of Blair to be EC chief
5 November 1998: Britain leads call for EU defence shake-up
21 October 1998: Blair ready to concede defence role for Europe
18 June 1997: Blair heads off European army