Eurocorps
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Eurocorps is a force which consists of up to 60,000 soldiers drawn from the armies of France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain. It is independent of any other military command although it can be placed under the command of NATO or other international organizations. According to its founding treaties the Corps:
- is to be prepared to carry out humanitarian aid missions and population assistance missions following a natural or technical disaster,
- can be made available for peace-restoring or peace-keeping missions, for example within the scope of the United Nations Organisation (UN) or the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
- can be employed as a mechanised army corps in high-intensity combat operations, in order to ensure the common defence of the Allies in application of article 5 of the Washington Treaty (NATO), or of the Brussels Treaty (WEU).
In order to enable integration with NATO in the case of commitment under point 3, the Corps has adopted NATO structures and procedures. However, the Corps is able to perform outside of NATO command and could become a key element of the European Security and Defence Policy.
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Organization
The Eurocorps is not subordinate to any other military organisation. It is deployed by a decision made by the five member states represented in the Common Committee by each nations Chief of Defence and Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This committee considers requests for support from multinational organizations such as the UN or EU. The Corps can also be deployed at the behest of the member nations.
Headquarters
The Eurocorps headquarters is based in Strasbourg near the French-German border. The headquarters contains following units:
- A command group consisting of the senior military commanders of the Corps.
- A Staff of approximately 350 providing support to the command group. The staff includes liaison Officers have been sent by the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Finland, Greece, Italy, Canada and Turkey.
- A Headquarters Support Battalion providing protection, transport, food etc. to headquarters. This battalion consists of approximately 330 soldiers but can be significantly reinforced in case of commitments.
A Multi-national Support Brigade is colocated in Strasbourg. This brigade is separate and subordinate to the Corps headquarters and provides additional support when the Corps is deployed. The brigade is formed from units provided by the nations on a case-by-case basis but has a permanent headquarters of 80 personnel.
English is the command language and all personnel assigned to Eurocorps headquarters must be able to use it.
Subordinate units
The five framework countries have earmarked the following units to the Eurocorps:
- The Franco-German Brigade,
- 3rd French Armored Division,
- the 10th German Armored Division,
- the Belgian Land Operation Command (a division equivalent),
- a Spanish 1st Mechanized Division,
- a Luxemburg Recon Company.
The Franco-German Brigade (along with the Multi-national support Brigade) is under permanent operational command of Eurocorps headquarters. The remaining earmarked units are commanded under the relevant national command; they become subordinate to the Eurocorps headquarters once they are committed for a particular operation. If all units were committed by the member states, the Eurocops would consist of approximately 60,000 soldiers. In addition to the earmarked forces, Eurocorps is capable of commanding other units of up to divisional size provided by the member states or other countries.
Deployments
It participated in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Kosovo and led the ISAF6 Force in Afghanistan from August 9, 2004, to February 11, 2005.
This military cooperation is still limited to some European countries but it has the goal to enlarge to other ones, and it could then become a key element of the European Security and Defence Policy.
External links
- Official Eurocorps website (http://www.eurocorps.org/)
- the Eurocorps-Foreign Legion concept following its presentation at the European Parliament in June 2003 (http://paginas.pavconhecimento.mct.pt/pessoais/dw/Mario_Zanatti)
- forum debate (http://cervens.net/legionbbs/showthread.php?t=34)de:Eurokorps