Preemption an Option for EU

The German foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, apparently supports the new EU security doctrine currently being drafted in Brussels, which contains several elements reminiscent of Washington's new military doctrine.

The proposal currently being developed is a "good basis for discussion," Fischer told the Financial Times Deutschland on Tuesday. The FTD had reported on Monday that Brussels has identified weapons of mass destruction as the main threat to EU security.

The draft security policy, which is expected to be presented within the next few weeks, outlines the need to fight the spread of weapons of mass destruction and explicitly includes the use of military force as a means of preventing their proliferation.

If adopted, this would bring EU military policy in line with Washington's new doctrine of preemptive war. The U.S. government has expanded its definition of preemption to include possible future threats. Under current international law, preemptive strikes are only allowed to warn off an imminent threat, for example when foreign troops are building up along a country's borders.

During the Euromed conference of EU and Mediterranean countries, Fischer defended the use of military force to prevent weapons of mass destruction from falling into the wrong hands. In its joint declaration with France and Russia on a preemptive strike against Iraq, the German government specifically included the use of force as a last resort, he said.

Fischer also pointed out that the basic thrust of the new EU security doctrine had been developed in Brussels by himself, EU foreign policy adviser Javier Solana, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw and French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.

Germany's new military policy, unveiled by Defense Minister Peter Struck last week, would complement the EU's draft military doctrine. The policy states that in the future the armed forces will be geared toward deployment for crisis prevention, crisis management and post-crisis reconstruction.