World Notes European Community

With the cold war over, it hardly seems time to start building an all-new army in Europe. Yet France and Germany are doing just that. President Francois Mitterrand and Chancellor Helmut Kohl last week proposed the creation of an all-European army, starting with a small Franco-German brigade that is already in existence and eventually comprising troops from all the nine nations in the Western European Union. Staunch Atlanticists initially opposed the idea: British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd called it an unnecessary "duplication" of NATO. But others, including the U.S. -- which is not a member of the WEU and thus has the most influence to lose -- were more restrained. Some diplomats suggested that a Euroarmy could play a role in future gulf-style conflicts, as long as the Atlantic Alliance is not weakened.

The basis of the proposed army is a 4,200-troop Franco-German brigade based near Stuttgart that can barely be called a joint force. Its soldiers carry different rifles, wear their own national uniforms and operate in separate battalions. Expanding so fractious a concept to an army corps of about 35,000 to 40,000 soldiers could take years. Creating a full army could take a generation. By that time, with any luck, it will no longer be needed.