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Defence in the UK

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention and share his frustration about the Greek veto over Macedonia's participation in NATO. If we can, we ought to knock some heads together. I remember being in Skopje not long ago with a former Greek Defence Minister, who as we walked into the meeting said that he could not give a stuff what they called their country, but as soon as we were in the meeting steadfastly defended the Greek line on the name. We have to move on, because such ridiculous problems—although the Turkey-Cyprus problem is not ridiculous to a Cypriot—are blocking the co-operation that is essential if we are to move forward. I understand where the political rationale for Turkey vis-à-vis the EU lies, but we all need to look at the bigger picture. The bigger picture is where my third and last illustration of the current difficulties in EU-NATO relations comes from. It is Afghanistan, where the EU is not a very big player. However, there is a police mission run within the ESDP framework, and both the European Commission and EU member states spend large amounts of money in that country. EUPOL Afghanistan, the EU police mission, is suffering from the difficulties that participating EU member states have in finding police officers who are willing to work in such a challenging environment. The security of the police is obviously crucial to the success of the operation. However, due to the difficulties that I have just mentioned, the EU is not able to obtain a global security arrangement with NATO in Afghanistan, so it was necessary to negotiate individual security provisions with every provincial reconstruction team on the ground. What is more, intelligence sharing is made more complicated by the absence of a relevant EU-NATO agreement. Those examples show clearly that we need to find a way to improve the relationship between the two organisations. Beyond those examples, which could be regarded as anecdotes, there are deeper reasons for the current difficulties. First, I believe that, for a long time, the United States Government and many in this country have looked at the EU and the development of ESDP with a certain degree of suspicion. There has been a fear of duplication and the feeling that emancipation could lead to separation. None of that is true. ESDP is a process of consolidating, improving and extending member states' capabilities. It has created a new potential actor, ready to stand in when NATO cannot or does not want to get involved. Now is the time to draw the two actors and their member states closer together. There is, of course, an opposite view. Some believe that closer relations between the EU and NATO would result in too much influence for the USA. I hope that if such fears have ever been justified, they are less urgent with the election of the new President. The announcement made by President Sarkozy that he will take France back into NATO's integrated military structure is a clear signal of new thinking on that issue. There is a new window of opportunity. The new Administration in Washington are interested in good relations with Europeans and recognise the added value of effective multilateral institutions. That should not only help to improve relations between the EU and NATO, but provide us with a vision to help shape the role of both organisations in our security in the 21st century. I shall take as an example the situation of countries to the east of the EU and NATO border. NATO enlargement might not always be the best answer to their concerns and ours, but if it is not the right thing for those countries, what else can we propose, and what can the EU in particular offer them? Could the nascent EU eastern partnership initiative be developed into a transatlantic one? It is probably too early for President Obama and his new team to come up with any far-reaching proposals in early April at the NATO anniversary summit or at the EU-US summit the following day. But the different tone and style of the new American President could lay the basis of a positive review. One year from now, there could be a real breakthrough. We need the EU-NATO relationship to be clarified sooner rather than later, not least because we need our own minds made up before we face others who challenge the existing security architecture. I refer to the Russian President, Mr. Medvedev, his recent remarks about the weakness of the European security system and his proposal for a new European security treaty. In that regard at least, we know what we do not want—the unravelling of the Helsinki principles. I conclude with two thoughts. First, we need to review not only the EU-NATO relationship but the EU-US relationship, and focus those relations more on security issues. We in Europe need to ask ourselves: do we want to be an attractive partner to the United States both inside and outside NATO? Do we want to contribute to the resolution of the huge challenges ahead of us? The Spanish Government, who take over the EU presidency in 2010, are considering the issue with a view to relaunching an EU-US initiative. In Madrid, in 1995, they launched a new transatlantic agenda, and this would be a new, new transatlantic agenda. Given the limited capabilities and our scarce financial resources, which will not only not grow but come under immense pressure once the current financial crisis has had its full impact on our real economy, we need to be innovative and imaginative in finding ways of co-operation and co-ordination. We need to be able to make the best use of the capabilities of both organisations and their respective member states. The military and civil dimensions of security go hand in hand and, institutionally, our response to conflict and crisis needs to reflect that. Secondly, as I said at the start, electorates tend to put schools, hospitals and health care before spending on helicopters, guns and missiles. However, we need to realise that we live in dangerous times and a harsh world, and if we want to make a difference and guarantee the security of our citizens, such investment is inevitable. We must also explain to our people that military operations, such as the one in Afghanistan, are not about remote conflicts, but directly concern security at home. At the NATO summit in Strasbourg and Kehl on 3 and 4 April, I hope that work will be launched on a new strategic concept for the alliance. It is time to move on and adapt NATO's strategy to future challenges. It is important to ensure a real democratic debate on transatlantic and European security challenges, and to promote bold ideas to enable NATO and the EU to meet those challenges.