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The handling of the immigrant crisis was a failure, but the other two issues have little or nothing to do with the EU. The EU is primarily an economic union, it

The handling of the immigrant crisis was a failure, but the other two issues have little or nothing to do with the EU. The EU is primarily an economic union, it is not and will never be a military one. After all there is the NATO already. Also the list of European NATO members is quite different than that of the EU.

ddebernardy 10y ago
Actually, with the UK out the EU might (finally?) turn into a military union at some point. The UK was the main force against going in that direction, in that the UK didn't want their foreign policy done by Brussels. The smaller roadblock that remains will be to convince the Nordic countries that flexing the EU's military muscle is OK for purposes other than strict humanitarian purposes (or France and - to a lesser extent - Southern Europe the other way around).
- M2Ys4U 10y ago
  The current rules around military cooperation mean that it's opt-in and wouldn't so much be an 'EU military' as one might think of it.
  - ZenoArrow 10y ago
    Plans for greater military integration appear to have been discussed recently: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/06/europe-forges-ahead-with-plans-for-eu-army/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/06/europe-forges-ahe...
DasIch 10y ago
The EU was created to ensure peace within Europe. The economic aspects are secondary and merely enable that to happen by binding the economies together, so that you cannot start a war or leave the EU without significant harm to your own economy. There is a European Defense Agency and there are EU battlegroups that sort of form a standing EU army. The EU definitely is a military union and there are quite a few people pushing for even more cooperation on that front. EDIT: For those people down voting I would suggest reading the preamble of the Paris treaty[1], which essentially started the EU. It's not exactly subtle or ambiguous about the goal. [1]: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:11951K:EN:PDF http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:...

ddebernardy 10y ago

Actually, with the UK out the EU might (finally?) turn into a military union at some point. The UK was the main force against going in that direction, in that the UK didn't want their foreign policy done by Brussels. The smaller roadblock that remains will be to convince the Nordic countries that flexing the EU's military muscle is OK for purposes other than strict humanitarian purposes (or France and - to a lesser extent - Southern Europe the other way around).

M2Ys4U 10y ago
The current rules around military cooperation mean that it's opt-in and wouldn't so much be an 'EU military' as one might think of it.
- ZenoArrow 10y ago
  Plans for greater military integration appear to have been discussed recently: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/06/europe-forges-ahead-with-plans-for-eu-army/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/06/europe-forges-ahe...

DasIch 10y ago

The EU was created to ensure peace within Europe. The economic aspects are secondary and merely enable that to happen by binding the economies together, so that you cannot start a war or leave the EU without significant harm to your own economy. There is a European Defense Agency and there are EU battlegroups that sort of form a standing EU army. The EU definitely is a military union and there are quite a few people pushing for even more cooperation on that front. EDIT: For those people down voting I would suggest reading the preamble of the Paris treaty[1], which essentially started the EU. It's not exactly subtle or ambiguous about the goal. [1]: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:11951K:EN:PDF http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:...