Oh?
“The construction of a Europe of defence, in connection with the Atlantic Alliance ... is a priority for France. It is the theme of this parade,” Mr Macron said.
The centrist French president has promoted the European Intervention Initiative as a step towards the “true European army” which he says is needed.
The aim of the 10-country grouping is to undertake military missions outside existing structures such as Nato.
A European Union army has nothing to do with maintaining connections with the Atlantic Alliance (which means America-dominate NATO). It is intended as a competitor to NATO and a means to push America out of European defense, reducing American influence in security issues.
And yes, this anti-NATO trend is already starting:
Defence is a policy area that has always been in the realm of the intergovernmental method, with member states adopting decisions by unanimity and supranational institutions, such as the Commission [the European Commission] and the EP [European Parliament], having no formal power. Yet, the EDF [European Defence Fund] represents a major defence initiative that was proposed by the Commission, negotiated under the Community method – which involves qualified majority voting (QMV) in the Council and codecision with the EP – and will be implemented by the Commission. In other words, the EDF is clearly a supranational policy.
The Europeans are still only Europeans in a geographic sense, but Macron wants to impose a pan-European identity:
Macron has talked of creating networks of European universities, schools and cultural institutions to ensure that “every European recognizes their destiny in the figures adorning a Greek temple or in Mona Lisa’s smile,” as well as similar networks of European police forces and militaries to keep Europeans safe in an era of radical Islamist terrorism, Russian espionage and U.S. disinterest.
Europeans barely like their national identities let alone their European cultural heritage:
The modern academic left isn’t into European chauvinism. Many of its leading members don’t even accept the concept of a common Western (or European) civilization with roots in ancient Greece. They view the notion as a 19th century invention to justify imperialism and colonialism — or something.
How is that university network going to work?
The common currency with bland generic European illustrations didn't work to provide a European identity. A common pro-European college curriculum won't teach it. And a common military policy and military won't do it either.
So all that will be left for the European Union is brute force imposed by an imperial military, police, and secret police.
And the only "enemy" identified (Russia, Islamists, and America) that Europeans will be willing to resist is America. So goodbye NATO as the European defense structure grows and depletes the already thin European commitment to NATO.
Yet while that empire won't last, it will do real damage until it falls (and as it falls, of course).
Have a super sparkly Euro day.
