First published in "European Voice" on 20 Sept. 2000

Why NATO supports a stronger Europe? Interaction between the European Union and NATO has accelerated rapidly over the past year. The process received a welcome boost at the EU Helsinki Summit last December, when the Union took decisive steps to increase its role as a security actor. The Union agreed to establish a deployable corps, for a full range of operations, as well as its own political and military committees to command that corps, whenever necessary. Sceptics on both sides of the Atlantic considered those decisions as the beginning of the end of NATO. They foresaw a new and dangerous direction in transatlantic relations, a development where a European Security and Defence Policy, or ESDP, would lead to little in the way of results, but poison the atmosphere of trust between the two continents concerning their common security. These concerns are fundamentally misplaced. Europe's ongoing development as a security actor is good for the transatlantic relationship and thus deserves NATO's support. Indeed, NATO is supporting this development, for three compelling reasons: Reason No. 1: Creating a more equitable transatlantic relationship For the foreseeable future, NATO will remain vital to European security - in peacekeeping, in defence diplomacy, as a framework for cooperation, and, if necessary, for collective defence. There is simply no substitute for NATO, and most Europeans understand this as well as American leaders. However, for NATO to remain politically healthy in^future, a prosperous Europe simply has to assume a greater responsibility for its own security than it managed to take on during last year's Kosovo crisis. That is why the EU's efforts to improve its capabilities are good for Europe and good for NATO. As European nations put their words into action and the deployable corps takes shape, Europe will be able to do more within NATO operations, and thereby answer any questions about fairness and burdensharing within the Alliance. Reason No. 2: Creating new options for crisis management The security landscape in Europe has changed dramatically since the end of the Cold War. The scenario of a large-scale aggression - once the single scenario dominating European defence policies and postures - has been replaced by regional conflicts. In such scenarios the US may not always wish to take the lead. At least it suggests that there could be situations where the US will prefer to stay out of any direct involvement and instead provide support to a European-led operation. In those circumstances it is good for both sides of the Atlantic if Europe can take the lead. Europe won't resent having to ask the United States to do something it doesn't really want to do; and the United States and NATO won't get dragged into operations simply for lack of an alternative. Reason No. 3: Creating effective capabilities A third reason why NATO will work ever more closely with the European Union is related to military capabilities. Put simply, NATO and EU must work together because for the foreseeable future NATO's military support will be necessary for all but the smallest European led operations. Strategic lift, satellite intelligence and precision guided munitions are just some of the assets that NATO has, and that the EU is likely to require when leading an operation. Therefore, the Alliance has drawn up a list of its own assets and capabilities that can be detached and made available to the EU, after approval by the NATO Council. In this way, NATO can help the EU to overcome its limitations as a security actor, and give the Euro-Atlantic community more tools with which to meet security challenges. Even as Europe develops its own political and military capacities, one thing remains as true as ever. Europe and North America remain a unique community of values, a community that will inevitably want to work together also on security issues. Indeed, it is hard to imagine any serious security crisis in or around Europe that North America would not want to address together with Europe, or that Europe would not want the North American Allies to be involved in. North America and Europe remain each other's best partner. A stronger Europe will not change that. It will simply make Europe a better Partner for North America - and that can only be good for transatlantic relations.