Policy paper

2010 to 2015 government policy: international defence commitments

Updated 8 May 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

This is a copy of a document that stated a policy of the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government. The previous URL of this page was https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/meeting-nato-and-eu-treaty-defence-commitments. Current policies can be found at the GOV.UK policies list.

Issue

The Ministry of Defence (MOD), in accordance with UK government policy, contributes military and financial resources to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the EU to support their military operations. We do this to endorse multilateral security efforts (those involving countries acting together) and to help maintain the UK’s alliances. These commitments are outlined in our agreements with NATO and the EU.

We also work with like-minded partners to influence NATO and EU policies so that their members are better able to develop the military and civilian capabilities and the political will to respond to new issues, security threats and crises affecting all nations.

Actions

NATO

NATO will continue to be the main element of our defence policy and strategy, as confirmed in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).

To meet our collective defence and security commitments in NATO, we will:

• contribute personnel to NATO’s standing command and force structures
• provide capabilities and personnel to support NATO-led operations, like the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) where the UK is the second largest contributor after the US
• engage actively with and influence the NATO defence planning process

The EU

In order to support the EU’s Common Security Defence Policy (CSDP), the MOD will look to contribute to EU missions and operations wherever it is in the UK’s interest. Defence remains a sovereign issue within the UK; the UK retains an effective veto on any new EU CSDP activity and complete control over the allocation of UK personnel to EU activity.

The EU, through CSDP, has a range of capabilities (including political, financial, legal, military and developmental) that can be brought to bear in a comprehensive approach to crises, supplementing NATO’s higher intensity military activities and longer-term stabilisation and development work. For the UK, putting the Comprehensive Approach to work requires smarter missions and operations, harnessing the EU’s crisis management potential and working better with NATO.

EU and NATO operations to prevent and reduce piracy at sea

Since 2008, armed gangs from Somalia have been hijacking ships off the Horn of Africa and then demanding ransoms for their release. In response, the UK is playing a lead role in NATO and EU multinational operations aimed at stopping the pirates - read our policy about conflict prevention and resolution in fragile states and our piracy policy.

Background

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was established by 12 nations in 1949, at the start of the Cold War, by the Washington Treaty. It aims to safeguards the freedom and security of its member countries by political and military means.

NATO’s membership has since expanded to 28 allies. Its purpose has evolved to include operations outside the original collective defence policy detailed in Article V of the treaty, including preventing and managing crises and emerging threats.

The primary areas of concern to NATO today include security assistance, security discussions and co-operation, international terrorism, cyber terrorism, and piracy. NATO remains a nuclear alliance, with deterrence as the main element of its strategy. All of these issues were agreed in the Strategic Concept at the 2010 Lisbon Summit.

NATO is also committed to reducing the instability in and around states undergoing a breakdown in their rule of law and by military conflict (known as ‘failed states’). This was agreed at the 2006 Riga Summit.

The period after 2014, after the end of combat activities in Afghanistan, will be very important for NATO. Following the 2012 Chicago Summit, NATO is working towards the NATO Forces 2020 initiative, which will lead to more interconnected and interoperable forces with rapid response capabilities.

NATO has also begun to reform its structure and organisation to provide better support for highly complex operations like those in Afghanistan.

NATO has also developed a series of wider partnerships, including Partnership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Co-operation Initiative. Operational partnerships, such as the one NATO established with Australia in Afghanistan, are an additional source of personnel and resources for NATO-led operations. Developing partnerships, especially after 2014, is an increasingly important part of NATO’s work and this was recognised at the Chicago Summit, NATO’s most recent meeting, in May 2012.

The EU

EU member states have a CSDP which covers the mutual defence and security interests of EU member states.

All 27 member states have to agree before a mission can be launched, and member states decide individually whether or not to contribute to each mission, and the extent to which they do so, just as they do in NATO and the UN. The UK decides whether to use our armed forces in each case.

Separately from the CSDP, the EU also considers using economic and diplomatic sanctions when countries violate international law or abuse human rights, and plays a major role in the fight against illicit holding and trafficking of small arms.

Legislation

The UK ratified the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. It amended the two treaties which form the EU, the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty establishing the European Community (TFEU).

Appendix 1: helping EU military operations

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

NATO remains the UK’s primary defensive alliance. It is the right organisation for engaging in high-intensity conflict. But CSDP has a unique and complementary role to play.

When successful, EU action can achieve results where others find it difficult to act. CSDP has helped to establish stability in the Balkans, Georgia and Indonesia, and in the process avoided the need for more costly and risky interventions through NATO or the UN. In Afghanistan the EU police mission plays an essential role alongside NATO in increasing capacity of the Afghan National Police. The EU continues to lead the international effort to counter piracy and protect World Food Programme aid.

All 27 member states have to agree before a mission can be launched, and member states decide individually whether or not to contribute to each mission, and the extent to which they do so, just as they do in NATO and the UN. The UK decides whether to use our armed forces in each case.

EU battlegroups

The EU battlegroups are battalion-sized multinational military units comprised of contributions from member states. They are small, highly mobile self-sustainable stand-by forces designed to be able to intervene rapidly in a crisis, usually responding to a UN request. They rotate so that 2 groups are ready to deploy at all times. They are under the direct control of the Council of the EU.

The UK will continue supporting the EU battlegroups by providing troops and equipment. The UK provided battlegroups in the second half of 2008 and the first half of 2010 and will do so with Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands in the second half of 2013. Although to date no EU battlegroup has been used on operations, some member states have invested in their military capabilities in a way that facilitates them contributing forces to the battlegroup roster.

The ATHENA mechanism

EU operations are run under the auspices of the ATHENA mechanism. ATHENA was set up by the Council of the European Union on 1 March 2004 to administer the financing of common costs of operations with military or defence implications.

ATHENA covers EU military operations and EU military supporting actions, in support of a third state or a third organisation.

ATHENA is managed under the authority of a Special Committee, acting as a budget committee. The committee is composed of representatives of the EU member states contributing to the financing of each operation. The costs are shared between the states based on each state’s gross national income.

For 2012 the UK cost share is 14.12% which has resulted in total payments of £2.246 million. These payments have covered the UK contribution to Operation Althea (Balkans), Operation Atalanta (Counter Piracy) and Phase II of the EUTM Somalia mission. It also covers the common costs of the administration in Brussels and exercises.

The UK’s vision for European defence policy is simple. The UK wants the EU to build stability, deal with crises as they emerge and respond to conflict. To fulfil this, we need consistently to apply the EU’s unique spectrum of political, military, development and economic levers in an increasingly complex security environment.

We need political will that allows member states with military and civilian capabilities to act together to achieve a common goal. And we need to be confident in the planning and rapid deployment of these resources to maximum effect. This comprehensive approach to crisis management should be central to EU Common Security and Defence Policy.

Air and Maritime Rapid Response Concept

The Maritime Response Concept and the Air Rapid Response Concepts are used to accelerate the force generation process in the EU and do not call for standing forces. The UK has committed no equipment or personnel to either concept, but some of its maritime and air forces are potentially available for planning purposes for EU missions. This is set out in the UK’s response to the EU Headline Goal 2010.

Supporting the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) to develop

The UK will continue to help develop the operational capability of the EU’s CSDP by encouraging European partners to invest more wisely with regard to defence capabilities that can be made available to both NATO and the EU.

The Strategic Defence and Security Review SDSR gives details of the UK’s commitment to supporting EU security interests further (both within and outside of CSDP’s remit) by:

• ensuring the EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS) concentrates on conflict prevention, working with the UN and NATO
• enforcing the Energy Strategy for Europe 2011 to 2020 to increase European energy security
• using the EU/US Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme agreement to disrupt funding for terrorist acts
• ensuring practical results from the EU Drugs Pact, encouraging greater cooperation in countries that are drug sources and contain transit routes
• working to make sure that EU civil protection arrangements concentrate on shared risk assessment and prevention, coordination of mutual assistance, and raising awareness of critical infrastructure dependencies
• ensuring that the new EU budget from 2014 to 2020 targets funding at the main security challenges facing the EU
• contributing to the European border agency, Frontex

Appendix 2: the UK’s contribution to NATO operational command and force structures

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

Military personnel

The UK provides a significant number of military personnel to NATO’s command structure, with personnel in both Europe and North America.

The UK currently holds the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) post, which is one of NATO’s 2 strategic commanders, the head of Allied Command Operations (ACO), and commands the NATO Maritime Command at Northwood.

The UK is the second-largest contributor to NATO-led operations, with more than 9,500 personnel deployed in support of NATO, chiefly in Afghanistan. We also played a leading part in the NATO-led Libya operation in 2011.

Financial contributions

NATO has 3 common budgets to which allies contribute. The MOD pays the UK contribution to the NATO common budgets that support operations – mainly the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the military command structure and certain common infrastructure. The cost share is 11.5% of these budgets, roughly £212 million in 2012 (so we will continue to meet NATO’s defence spending target of 2% GDP). The FCO pays UK common costs for the NATO HQ and international civilian personnel in Brussels.

The UK also contributes to the NATO Response Force (NRF). From January to June 2011 the MOD provided the Maritime Component HQ at Northwood, in Middlesex, and will provide the Land and Air Component HQs in 2013, a significant effort.

Royal Navy contributions

The Royal Navy has an important role in NATO. It holds a number of senior positions throughout the NATO command structure, including the roles of the Maritime Commander (MARCOM) at NATO Northwood, in Middlesex, and Deputy Commander of Strike Force NATO.

The Naval Service routinely contributes ships, submarines, aircraft and personnel to NATO operations and exercises. It also provides assets to the Maritime NATO High Readiness Force and NATO Standing Maritime Groups when resources allow, thereby fulfilling the UK’s contribution to Collective Defence and Defence Diplomacy.

Army contributions

The Army provides 60% of the personnel and the majority of the peacetime funding for Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ ARRC) – an important Land HQ within NATO’s Force Structure based near Gloucester – and its supporting organisations. HQ ARRC has deployed to Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan on NATO-led operations.

Royal Air Force contributions

The Royal Air Force plays an important leadership and support role within the NATO Command Structure, filling 280 posts – around 40% of the United Kingdom’s total contribution of personnel.

The Royal Air Force has been a long-term contributor to the NATO Force Structure, annually committing Air Defence, Ground Attack, Air to Air refuelling, Air Transport, ISTAR and Airborne Early Warning aircraft to the NATO Response Force. The United Kingdom has also participated in the air policing of the Baltic States and Iceland.

Related links:

• more information about ISAF on our Afghanistan policy
• Standing NATO Naval Groups through the Royal Navy
• Combined Maritime Forces (CMF)