Re-designing military security in Europe: cooperation and competition between the European community and NATO during the early 1980s

Abstract

In the early 1980s, the member-states of the European Community (‘the Ten’) extended their foreign-policy cooperation into the field of security and disarmament. They advanced a proposal for a Conference on Disarmament in Europe within the framework of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe process. As disarmament was a preserve and priority concern of NATO, the move engendered both competition and cooperation between NATO and European Political Cooperation (EPC), that is, the mechanism the Ten used to elaborate common positions. This article analyses these dynamics by paying particular attention to the exchange of ideas between the two forums. It also shows the key role of some Western European governments in inspiring competition or promoting cooperation between the two organizations, and the rationales and drivers behind their actions. The article proves that Cold War concerns played a key role in this regard: the will to preserve European détente and the need to address domestic opinion critical of an escalation of the East–West confrontation motivated their initiative in the disarmament field. At the same time, concern that the Soviets might exploit divergences across the Atlantic prompted their attempts to secure NATO’s cohesion and project a strong image of unity.

Keywords:

• Cold War
• disarmament
• NATO
• EPC
• European Community
• CSCE
• détente

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Kiran K. Patel and Wolfram Kaiser for inviting me to contribute an article in this special issue and for their comments on earlier drafts. I am grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their thought-provoking remarks, which helped me strengthen the article in terms of its contribution to historiography. Finally, my heartfelt thanks go to Nicholas Nguyen, Johannes Geurts, and Nicholas Roche at NATO Archives for their assistance and for welcoming me so nicely at very short notice.

Notes

1. Paris COREU (suite), 11 janvier 1984, 5020, AMAE (translated from French by the author).

2. For an overview: Deighton, ‘Foreign and Security Policy after the End of the Cold War’, 255–67. A just-published work briefly considering 1973–4’s (failed) attempts to include defence in the EC’s international activity confirms the same argument: Ferrari, Sometimes Speaking with a Single Voice, 66–70.

3. Deighton and Bossuat, The EC/EU: a World Security Actor?; Bossuat, ‘Origins and Development’; Möckli, European Foreign Policy. Specifically on the role of EC/EPC in the CSCE: Romano, From Détente in Europe to European Détente; on EPC and Middle East: Möckli, ‘The EC-Nine and Transatlantic Conflict’; Allen and Hauri, ‘The Euro-Arab Dialogue, the Venice Declaration’.

4. On such inter-organizational links: Patel, ‘Provincialising European Union’.

5. Nuti et al., The Euromissile Crisis and the End of the Cold War; Nuti, ‘The Origins of the 1979 Dual Track Decision – a Survey’; Dujardin, ‘From Helsinki to the Missiles Question’; Spohr, ‘Conflict and Cooperation in Intra-Alliance Nuclear Politics’; Spohr, ‘Helmut Schmidt and the Shaping of Western Security in the Late 1970s’.

6. Park, ‘NATO Summits’, 90.

7. In 1952 Greece and Turkey became members.

8. Wallace, ‘European Political Co-Operation’, 9.

9. The Single European Act of 1986 gave a treaty base to EPC.

10. ‘Report on Future Tasks of the Alliance’ annexed to Final Communiqué, Brussels, 13th–14th December 1967, par. 13, NATO.

11. ‘Mutual And Balanced Force Reductions. Declaration adopted by Foreign Ministers and Representatives of Countries participating in the NATO Defence Program’, Reykjavik, 24th–25th June 1968.

12. ‘Aide-mémoire from the French Government to the other 14 NATO countries’, 11 March 1966. French forces’ reintegration into NATO’s military command took place in 2009; it did not entail integrating the Force de Frappe.

13. ‘Declaration of the North Atlantic Council on European Security’, Brussels, 4th–5th December 1969, par. 14. Accessed at http://www.nato.int/docu/comm/49-95/c691204b.htm

14. CC24(1970), 27 May 1970, CAB 128/45, TNA.

15. Minute from Tickell, FCO, 23 May 1972, Doc. no. 9, DBPO.

16. Brief by FCO, 2 April 1971, CAB 133/416, TNA; Note, MAE – Sous-Direction Europe Orientale, 1 juillet 1972, 2924, AMAE. See also Bluth, ‘Détente and Conventional Arms Control’.

17. Letter UK Embassy Stockholm to Tickell (WOD), 26 May 1972, FCO 28/1690, TNA.

18. Letter Ministry of Defence to PM Heath, 29 November 1972, PREM 15/1279, TNA.

19. For detail see Romano, ‘Western Europe’s Self-Assertion Towards the Superpowers’; and Romano, ‘The Main Task of the European Political Cooperation’. Candidate states were associated to EPC beforehand: the UK since February 1972, Ireland and Denmark in May of the same year. They joined the EC on 1 January 1973.

20. Fisher, Neutral Power in the CSCE.

21. For a detailed analysis, see Ghebali, Confidence-building Measures Within the CSCE Process.

22. Dean, ‘Military Security in Europe’, 30.

23. Final Act, ‘Document on Confidence-Building Measures and Certain Aspects of Security and Disarmament’, 10.

24. Note by the Secretary-General, ‘Confidence-Building Measures: Past and Present’, 22 June 1979, C-M(79)46, NATO Arch.

25. Rose (UKDEL NATO) to Lord Carrington (FM), 22 January 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

26. CSCE (80) 2/CP/, 14 mars 1980, 4211 bis, Communautés Européennes 1976–80, AMAE.

27. Final communiqué, North Atlantic Council, Brussels 13^th–14th December 1979, par. 8; and Final Communiqué, North Atlantic Council, Ankara 25^th–26^th June 1980, par. 8.

28. Heyde, ‘Multilaterale Konferenzdiplomatie unter nationaler Flagge’, 39.

29. Heyde, ‘Nicht nur Entspannung und Menschenrechte’, 91–2.

30. Dispatch, Rose (UKDEL NATO) to Gillmore (Defence Dept), 23 January 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

31. See Romano, ‘The European Community and the Belgrade CSCE’.

32. Romano, ‘A Single European Voice Can Speak Louder’.

33. Romano, ‘G-7s, European Councils and East-West Economic Relations’; Mourlon-Druol, ‘More than a Prestigious Spokesperson’.

34. Carrington (FM) to Deakins, MP, December 1980, FCO 98/959, TNA.

35. ‘Summary record of a meeting of the Council held at the NATO HQ, Brussels, on Wednesday 27th September 1978’, C-R(78)32, NATO Arch.

36. ‘Summary record of a meeting of the Council held at the NATO HQ, Brussels, on 9th November 1978’, C-R(78)39, NATO Arch.

37. ‘Summary record of a meeting of the Council in Ministerial Session held at NATO HQ, Brussels, on Friday, 7th December 1978’, C-R(78)47 – PART 1, NATO Arch.

38. Spohr, ‘Helmut Schmidt and the Shaping of Western Security in the Late 1970s’, 174. This article does not even mention the CDE.

39. Conclusions of Cabinet meeting, 11 January 1979, CAB/128/65/1, TNA. CDE was merely mentioned in ‘The Guadeloupe Summit’, HL Deb 16 January 1979, House of Lords.

40. See Mourlon-Druol and Romero, International Summitry and Global Governance; and Spohr and Reynolds, Transcending the Cold War.

41. ‘Summary Record of a Restricted Meeting of the Council in Ministerial Session on Thursday 7th December 1978’, PR(78)56-BIL; ‘Summary Record of a meeting of the Council held at the NATO HQ, Brussels on Tuesday, 8th May 1972’, C-R(79)18; ‘XXVIIIth Semi-Annual Meeting of the Political Committee with Disarmament Experts’, 15 November 1979, PO/79/117, NATO Arch. Also: Dispatch Rose (UKDEL NATO) to Gillmore (Defence Dept), 23 January 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

42. Brief, European Integration Dept (External), 26 February 1979, FCO 98/637, TNA; Paris COREU to All COREU, 21 April 1979, FCO 98/637, TNA.

43. Dispatch, Rose (UKDEL NATO) to Gillmore (Defence Dept), 23 January 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

44. ‘Summary record of a meeting of the Council held at the NATO HQ, Brussels, on 9th November 1978’, C-R(78)39, NATO Arch.

45. Dublin COREU to All COREU, 5 September 1979, FCO 98/637, TNA.

46. European Political Cooperation statements of the Foreign Ministers and other documents 1979, AEI, 80–1.

47. Freeman, Security and the CSCE Process, 85–7.

48. Jackson (POCO) to Cooper (ECD external), 10 June 1981, FCO 98/1175.

49. HC Deb 18 May 1979 vol 967 cc555–657, 2.

50. FCO Secretary of State to all posts, 7 December 1979, FCO 28/3683, TNA.

51. ‘Summary Record of a meeting of the Council held at NATO HQ Brussels on Wednesday 28th May 1980’, C-R(80)21, NATO Arch.

52. Ibid.

53. ‘Verbatim Record of the Meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Ministerial session held on Friday 12th Dec 1980 at NATO HQ Brussels’, C-VR(80)48 Part 2, NATO Arch.

54. ‘Summary Record of a meeting of the Council held at NATO HQ, Brussels on Friday 23th January 1981’, C-R(81)3, NATO Arch.

55. Cooper (POCO Unit, FCO) to FitzHerbert (ECD external), 26 October 1981, FCO 98/1175, TNA.

56. For detailed analysis see: Dujardin, ‘From Helsinki to the Missiles Question’; Dijk, ‘“A Mass Psychosis”’; Guasconi, ‘Public Opinion and the Euromissile Crisis’; Nehring, ‘The Last Battle of the Cold War’; Rother, ‘Family Row’.

57. Gala, ‘From INF to SDI’, 116–118; Geiger, ‘Die Regierung Schmidt-Genscher und der NATO-Doppelbeschluss’.

58. By 1976 three reports had been circulated for discussions: Tindemans, ‘European Union. Report’, AEI; European Commission, ‘Report on European Union’, AEI; EP, ‘Reports on European Union’, AEI.

59. Budd (UK Embassy The Hague) to Cooper (POCO Unit, FCO), 13 February 1981, FCO 98/1175, TNA.

60. EC, PE 71.832/fin, ‘Report on European political cooperation and the role of the European Parliament’, 30 June 1981, HAEU.

61. On the Genscher-Colombo initiative see Loth, Building Europe, 264–5.

62. Tomkys (UK Embassy Rome) to Scott (UKDEL NATO), 24 August 1981, FCO 98/1175, TNA.

63. Richards to FitzHerbert (ECD external), 21 December 1981, FCO 98/1175, TNA.

64. Carrington (FM) to Deakins, MP, December 1980, FCO 98/959, TNA.

65. Note, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 17 September 1981, CAB/129/213/21; Letter, Carrington (FM) to Prime Minister, 4 June 1981, FCO 98/1175, TNA.

66. Staples (UK Embassy Dublin) to Newington (Irish Dept., FCO), 20 June 1980, FCO 98/969, TNA.

67. Note, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 17 September 1981, CAB/129/213/21, TNA.

68. La Haye COREU to all COREU, 12 May 1981, FCO 98/1179, TNA.

69. Report on European Union from the Ministers of Foreign Affairs to the European Council, 1981; idem, 1982; idem, 1983.

70. Ambassade de France, Aout 1981, COM/1/3 1981, 5857, AMAE.

71. Tel. 20281 de Dufourcq (Londres), 29 mai 1981, COM/1/3 1981, 5857, AMAE.

72. Note, Secretary of State for Defence, 16 March 1981, CAB/129/211/11, TNA.

73. Brief No. 8, POCO Unit FCO, 20 May 1981, FCO 98/1179, TNA.

74. ‘Verbatim Record of the Meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Ministerial session held on Monday 4th May 1981, Rome’, C-VR(81)18, NATO Arch.

75. Brief, POCO Unit FCO, 16 July 1981, FCO 46/2671, TNA.

76. Alston (UKDEL NATO) to Johnson (EESD, FCO, 15 July 1981, FCO 98/1172, TNA.

77. Louis (USA Embassy London) to Carrington (FM), 20 July 1981, FCO 46/2671, TNA.

78. Note for the record, Rose (UKDEL NATO), 12 October 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

79. Tel. from Carrington (FM), 14 October 1981, FCO 98/1179, TNA.

80. Ibid.

81. ‘CSCE, Opening Statement on behalf of the Ten (Madrid, 27 October 1981)’, in European Political Cooperation in the 1980s, ed. Pijpers, Regelsberger, and Wessel, 347–8.

82. Carrington (FM) to Washington and all EC posts, 15 October 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

83. Hughes (CSCE Unit) to Broomfield (EESD), 25 November 1981, FCO 98/1179, TNA.

84. Romano, ’More Cohesive, Still Divergent’, 48–52; Brier, ‘Poland’s Solidarity as a Contested Symbol’, 83–104.

85. Genscher, ‘Toward an Overall Western Strategy’.

86. Selvage, ‘The Politics of the Lesser Evil’, 46.

87. Tel. COREU Athènes, 5 décembre 1983, 5020, Communautés Européennes, AMAE.

88. Tel. COREU Athènes, 29 novembre 1983, 5021, Communautés Européennes, AMAE.

89. Final Communiqué of the North Atlantic Council met in Ministerial Session in Brussels, 13th and 14th December 1979, par. 8.

90. ‘Summary Record of a meeting of the Council held at NATO HQ Brussels on Wednesday 28th May 1980’, C-R(80)21, NATO Arch.

91. Jackson (POCO) to Cooper (ECD external), 10 June 1981, FCO 98/1175, TNA.

92. ‘Summary Record of a meeting of the Council held at NATO HQ, Brussels on Thursday 7th July 1980’, C-R(80)27, NATO Arch.

93. Jackson (POCO) to Cooper (ECD external), 10 June 1981, FCO 98/1175, TNA.

94. Dispatch, Rose (UKDEL NATO) to Gillmore (Defence Dept), 23 January 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

95. Hulse (UKDEL CSCE Madrid) to Pearce (Defence Dept), 9 February 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

96. Gladstone (WED) to Gillmore (Defence Dept), 31 March 1981, FCO 98/1175, TNA.

97. Dispatch, Rose (UKDEL NATO) to Gillmore (Defence Dept), 23 January 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

98. Message from Andreani, 20 October 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

99. Carrington (FM) to FCO, 9 April 1981, FCO 98/1179; Carrington (FM) to Bonn and Paris, 5 July 1981, FCO 46/2671; Carrington (FM) to immediate Bonn, 20 October 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

100. Carrington (FM) to immediate Paris and Bonn, 26 October 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

101. Hulse (UKDEL Madrid CSCE) to Pearce (Defence Dept.), 7 July 1981, FCO 46/2671, TNA.

102. Gillmore (Defence Dept) to Rose (UKDEL NATO), 13 February 1981, FCO 28/4671, TNA.

103. FCO, Brief, 12 July 1981, FCO 46/2671, TNA.

104. ‘Summary Record of a meeting of the Council held at NATO HQ, Brussels on Thursday 7th July 1980’, C-R(80)27, NATO Arch.

105. Genscher, ‘Toward an Overall Western Strategy’, 64.

106. NATO, ‘Document on Arms Control and Disarmament’, 10 June 1982.

107. Final Communiqué of the North Atlantic Council met in Ministerial Session at Brussels on 8th and 9th December 1983, para. 13.

108. See Freeman, Security and the CSCE Process, 90–105.