Changing Security Context of Ireland: The Case of EU Battle Groups

1
Changing Security Context of IrelandThe Case
of EU Battle Groups

• Hanna Gehör
• Department of Political Science
• University of Helsinki
• 20.4.2006

2
Structure of Lecture

• Research topic
• Brief history of Irish neutrality
• Irelands foreign and security policy
• Europeanisation and Irish Security and Defence
  Policy

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Ireland and EU Battle Groups

• Irelands security environment - changed since
  membership of EEC and fall of the Berlin Wall and
  the collapse of the Soviet Union.
• Ireland has continued to pursue a policy of
  military neutrality
• Irelands security policy and its role in the EU
  has been an issue of considerable domestic debate

4
Ireland and EU Battle Groups

• Links to debates on neutrality, attitudes to the
  EU, and policy approach to the UN
• Key challenges legal questions, tradition of
  neutrality, and differing public opinion
• Politically sensitive topic
• Nice referendums in 2001 and 2002
• EU enlargement 2004
• The European Convention
• Use of Shannon Airport by the US air forces

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Irish Defence

• Ireland maintains a minimal defence force
• The Irish government spends less than 1.5 of
  GNP on defence
• Lowest of all neutral nations
• Permanent Defence Force 10,500 personnel
• Defence organisation involves a total of 30,000
  people
• Geographical and strategic factors influence the
  ability to pursue this policy

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Why did I choose this topic?

• Discipline of International Relations -
  relatively new to Irish academic landscape
• Ireland and international security - not widely
  studied outside Ireland
• Lack of examination of the internal debate on
  Irish neutrality
• Irelands security policy and its role inside the
  EU - issue of considerable domestic debate

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Researching Irish Security Environment

• Recent studies focus on concept of neutrality and
  choices Ireland faces in a changed security
  environment
• Tradition of neutrality - likely to remain as the
  focal point of Irish security policy
• In the longer term, Ireland needs to reassess its
  policy on neutrality
• Membership of NATO not seen as a realistic option
  for Ireland

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Key Concepts 1 European Security and Defence
Policy

• Movements towards European security autonomy can
  be traced back to 1950s
• After the Cold War, a general perception of
  Europes political weight both in Europe and in
  the United States changed
• Maastricht Treaty 1992
• Amsterdam Treaty 1997
• St. Malo declaration 1998
• Nice Treaty 2000
• European Security Strategy 2003

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Key Concepts 2 EU Battle Group

• Scheme to develop within EU, small military units
  for rapid deployment internationally
• A battle group 1,500-strong troops plus support
• Security
• Defence of national territory
• Defence of identity
• Identity
• Collective identity internal /external
  developments

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Brief History of Irish Neutrality

• From the military point of view, independent
  Ireland was incapable of fully defending herself
• Relation to the UK and question of Northern
  Ireland
• Ireland remained outside formal political and
  military alliance commitments, but it was not
  ideologically neutral

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Irish Neutrality

• Irish policy on neutrality
• Not set out in any international treaty
• No specific domestic constitutional or legal
  basis
• Irish military neutrality differs from other
  European neutrals in two important ways unarmed
  neutrality, not ideologically neutral
• Based on two sorts of principle
• The principles of sovereignty and independence
  (Article 1)
• Ideas of order and justice (Article 29)

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Irelands Foreign Policy and the EU

• Ireland - Active member of the EU
• Ben Tonra (1999) probably the most important
  and far-reaching decision development in foreign
  policy since independence
• Since accession to the European Economic
  Community in 1973, neutrality became minimal
• Bilateral relationship with the UK improved
• EU has affected the way foreign policy objectives
  are defined

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Irelands foreign policy and the UN

• UN is a priority of Irish foreign policy
• Irelands commitment to collective security
  traditionally pursued solely through the UN
• Cumulatively Ireland remains 6th largest
  contributor of troops to UN operations
• Kosovo operation 1999 Ireland supported a
  military action without a UN mandate for the
  first time in its history

14
Irelands Foreign Policy and the US

• Ireland wants to see continued US engagement in
  Europe
• Links between the US and Ireland are expected to
  remain strong in economic, cultural, and
  political sphere
• Use of Shannon airport by US air force

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Irelands Foreign Policy and Northern Ireland

• Situation in Northern Ireland - major
  improvements in Anglo-Irish political relations
• Irish Defence Forces will be able to concentrate
  on developing capabilities needed for
  international missions
• Daniel Keohane (2001) most significant change in
  recent years from an Irish security policy point
  of view

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Changing Context of Irish Foreign Policy

• Political and security environment has changed
• Broadened meaning of security
• Nature of peacekeeping operations
• Domestic challenges
• Military capabilities
• Ministerial resources
• Public opinion

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Framework of Europeanisation

• Europeanisation is a complex process that affects
  the domestic policies
• Europeanisation is understood as a process
  produced in interaction between varying national
  political and social structures, leading to EU
  level policy capacity, which, in turn, affects
  domestic policies.
• Combining top-down and bottom-up approaches
• Europeanisation also affected the way in which
  neutrality has been discussed in the Irish
  context

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Positions in Ireland on ESDP

• Increasingly considered to allow Ireland punch
  above its weight
• The Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of
  Defence, Department of Taoiseach and the Irish
  Defence Forces support the ESDP development
• Major political parties have interpreted the ESDP
  developments favourably
• Main opposition comes from small parties on the
  left

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Alternative Approaches

• Transatlanticism
• Direct investments
• Trade
• Cultural connections
• Northern Ireland Peace Process
• Globalisation
• Growing need to maintain regional and global
  stability

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EU Battle Group Process in Ireland

• Irish participation ruled out for legal and
  constitutional difficulties in early 2005
• UN mandate
• Defence act of 1954 Irish troops cannot be sent
  abroad for training
• Issue was brought back to the discussion autumn
  2005
• Irish parliament will decide on the participation
  in summer 2006

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Issue of EU Battle Group

• Critical views
• Term battle group
• Highly militaristic, European army
• Bang to neutrality
• Excuse to increase military expenditure and
  equipment
• Legal and constitutional issues
• Government has argued
• Support of UN Secretary General
• Does not compromise neutrality
• Triple Lock will not be changed
• (UN mandate, Government and Parliament approval)

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Positions in Ireland Issue of EU Battle Groups

• Key sentences
• Minister of Defence Ireland will join the EU
  battle groups
• Battle Groups vehicle within which Ireland can
  continue to play its role and contribute to
  effective multilateral action
• changes to defence laws in Ireland to enable
  Irish troops to serve with EU battle groups
• Training overseas
• Range of operations
• Update wording to closely reflect currect
  practice in the formulation of UN Security
  Council resolutions
• The EU has capacity to intervene - an EU
  obligation

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Positions in Ireland Issue of EU Battle Groups

• Main parties Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and
  Progressive Democrats support
• The Green Party
• Blow for Neutrality
• Ireland non-aligned
• PANA
• The EU Battle Groups part of the EU/US military
  partnership

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Synthesis

• The EUs influence - formulation of Irish foreign
  policy priorities
• Ireland as an active EU member state
• Flexible notion of neutrality
• EU Battle Groups challenge to Irish military
  neutrality