For years, the US has been demanding that European allies spend more on their military<\/p>\n
Now that they are, they are also setting up European cooperation mechanisms, and so now the Pentagon is upset about baby steps toward European military autonomy<\/a>:<\/p>\n For years, the US has been complaining that EU countries do not spend enough on their own military capabilities. <\/p>\n \u201cNow we\u2019re trying to do that, and it\u2019s not right either,\u201d Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, told delegates at the Munich Security Conference<\/a> this weekend. <\/p>\n A high-level annual meeting of US and European politicians, generals and defence experts, the conference was this year dominated by calls from Germany and France for Europe to stand on its own two feet \u2014 and US qualms about what that might mean for the transatlantic alliance<\/a>. <\/p>\n Indeed US misgivings about attempts to forge closer defence ties within the EU could become a significant irritant in relations with the US. <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Why would Washington have a problem with this?<\/p>\n For the same reason that they expanded NATO to Russia’s border, because they want to ensure that Europe remains a market for US military hardware, and this development implies that Europe is moving toward become a competitor in this whole “Merchants of Death” business:<\/p>\n Washington\u2019s attention is focused on permanent structured co-operation<\/a>, or Pesco, which is shaping up to be the EU\u2019s most serious attempt yet at forging closer defence ties. Of its 28 member states, 25 have signed up to the scheme that involves 17 projects ranging from improving military mobility to developing a new infantry fighting vehicle<\/span><\/b>. <\/p>\n \u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n