THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TRANSNATIONALISM IN PRACTICE:

EU: European army no closer as member states put own interests first. (Con Coughlin, 21 Sep 2009, Daily Telegraph)

"The fundamental problem is that all this talk of European security and defence planning is a misnomer," explained Sebastian Giegerich, research fellow for European security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. "It is not a defence policy – it is all about crisis management. Whenever there is a crisis everybody looks after their own national interests.

"There are those who are capable and willing, like Britain, and those who are capable but not willing, like the Germans. And there are those who are not capable and not willing, which unfortunately accounts for the overwhelming majority of EU states."

Europe’s inability to acquire a coherent and effective defence policy has been most evident in the conflicts that have arisen since the September 11 attacks in 2001. In the immediate aftermath of September 11 the leaders of Nato’s members states moved quickly to invoke Article 5 of the Nato treaty, by which they are obliged to support any member nation that comes under attack.

But just as happened in Bosnia and Kosovo, it soon became apparent that only a handful of European states, including Britain, were actually prepared to make a tangible military contribution to the campaign to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan. And when it came to confronting Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, deep divisions appeared among the major European powers over whether or not to support the war.