Brussels, 20/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - David Heathcoat-Amory, representative of the house of Commons at the European convention warned against any attempts in favour of European defence. This warning also received the support from other British dignitaries, including two former military leaders, General Sir John Akehurst (Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO 1987-1999), Admiral Sir John Woodward, who commanded British troops in the Falklands/Malvinas war in 1982.
The signatories emphasise that, "the governments and peoples of Europe think differently, and that any attempt to create a common foreign policy - let alone a common defence - is unlikely to succeed". They are also afraid of taking decisions by Majority Voting in this area, "so countries could be forced to support decisions that are domestically controversial". The British have a "longstanding and privileged working relationship with the United States, which benefits Europe as a whole…and which is gravely threatened by the proposals under discussion" at the Convention and therefore call on Convention Members to "reject the draft on the table as not being in the interests of either the Governments of the European Union or of its citizens". The signatories also criticised the fact that the EU had already committed units to a "large Rapid Reaction force" which included, "aircraft carries, submarines, special Forces, Patriot Missile batteries, armoured brigades, NBC units, strike aircraft, assault landing vessels -making it more than a simple peacekeeping unit". According to the signatories, this would result in a "Euro-Sandhurst" (European military academy proposed at the Summit of the Four on 30 April between Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg: Editor's note)…the military rationale behind the Galileo GPS system and the proposals from the latest European Parliament (Morillon) report, the trend is obvious". Fortunately, the authors of the press release conclude that the possibility for a defence opt-out remains, which should be a pre-condition for any possible go-ahead to a "European force".