Led by France, the European Initiative Intervention (EII) comprises the UK, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Finland.
Details of how the force will operate were discussed, Also, Finland was welcomed as the tenth member, while Great Britain, which is to leave the EU in March, 2019 is part of the joint force, which will operate with a common budget.
The members will cooperate in the planning, analysis of new military and humanitarian crises, and possible joint responses to upcoming contingencies. EII members will function independently from the United States, the EU or NATO, giving it more flexibility than NATO.
The North Atlantic Alliance relies on the consensus among 29 nations, while the EU has failed since 2007 to deploy their four multinational military battle groups.
French President Macron noted in an interview with French radio Europe1: “When I see President Trump announcing that he’s quitting a major disarmament treaty which was formed after the 1980s Euromissile crisis that hit Europe, who is the main victim? Europe and its security.”
The goal is that European armed forces will “learn get to know each other and act together” tweeted French Defense Minister Florence Parly at the launch of the EII.
Stratfor, a Washington think tank close to the CIA, said that “the EI2’s membership reveals that France is willing to go beyond the European Union in its quest for partners (as the United Kingdom will leave the bloc in 2019) and also outside of NATO (as Finland is not a member of the Atlantic alliance).”
As it stands, the EU budget does not allocate money for the creation of a European Army.
An independent EU military led by France, will weaken NATO and reduce the Europe’s dependence on the United States.