UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD NATO AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Monday, November 8, 1999 106th Congress, 1st Session

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I wish to explain my amendment to S. Res. 208 expressing the sense of the Senate on United States policy toward NATO and the European Union and my own personal view regarding the desirability of our European Allies conducting operations in their own backyard.

My amendment makes three important changes to the language of the resolution as reported out by the Foreign Relations Committee.

First of all, the amendment substitutes "the" for "its" before "European Security and Defense Identity" to make the point that the European Security and Defense Identity, or ESDI, is being developed within, not outside, the NATO Alliance. This simple fact is enshrined in a number of North Atlantic Council communiques and declarations, starting with the Declaration of Heads of State and Government issued at the Council meeting in Brussels on June 11, 1994. This is important because the development of the ESDI within the Alliance means that, as the 1994 Brussels Declaration stated, "NATO will remain the essential forum for consultation among its members and the venue for agreement on policies bearing on security and defense commitments of Allies under the Washington Treaty."

Next, my amendment deletes the references to NATO being "offered the opportunity to undertake the mission" and then that NATO "referred it to the European Union for action." The first point here is that on one has to offer a mission to NATO; the North Atlantic Council is in permanent session so that it can continuously review events that could impact on stability in the Euro-Atlantic area and can react to them, if necessary. Consequently, it doesn't have to be offered an opportunity to undertake a mission; it has that responsibility and the means to effect it on a continuing basis. The next point is that NATO doesn't refer a mission to the European Union; the EU will undoubtedly have been following such an event on its own and won't need a referral from NATO to do so. And the final and perhaps most important point is that this change removes the connotation that somehow the European Union is subservient to NATO.

The last change is to simply substitute "should" for "must" in the subparagraph relating to the implementation of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy. This will avoid the connotation that the United States is dictating to an organization of sovereign states.

Finally, Mr. President, I want to express my own personal view concerning the desirability of our European Allies conducting operations in their own backyard. I have long been a supporter of the ESDI and I am a supporter of the U.S.-sponsored Defense Capabilities Initiative that was recently adopted by NATO. NATO's Operation Allied Force demonstrated a capabilities gap between the United States and our NATO Allies. I welcome the stated determination of our European Allies to develop the capability to act on their own. I welcome the fact that they are providing more than 80 percent of the forces participating in the NATO-led Kosovo Force. I would welcome it if our European Allies would handle the next crisis that develops in Europe. I would be happy if the United States' contribution was limited, for instance, to providing such things as command and control, communications, and intelligence support and I would be even more pleased if the United States didn't have to provide any support and our European Allies were capable of handling a crisis on their own.

I have characterized the United States as being a junior partner and the European Allies being the senior partner in the KFOR peacekeeping mission. I know that there are many people, including some within the Administration who don't like that characterization, but I see nothing wrong with it.

Mr. President, the United States Congress for years has urged Europe to play a greater role in its own defense and to bear more of the collective security burden in NATO. I, for one, can take yes for an answer.