brussels<u+2014>european governments endorsed a plan aimed at building military cooperation so that the bloc could act alone, as pressure builds on the region to increase its own military spending with the election of donald trump. european union ministers decided monday to move forward with a proposal to create a new planning organization to oversee training missions and to make greater use of its standing military crisis-response units. but they made little progress on the more sweeping proposals from brussels over the summer to build common military capabilities or tap eu funding for defense projects. expanding defense cooperation via the eu has long been controversial. britain has blocked a number of proposals in the past, preferring to work to strengthen security through the north atlantic treaty organization instead. but the u.k.<u+2019>s decision to leave the eu and, now, the election of mr. trump have given fresh impetus for efforts to build what officials call europe<u+2019>s <u+201c>strategic autonomy ,<u+201d> an ability to act independently of other major powers. in his presidential campaign , mr. trump questioned the relevance of the nato military alliance and suggested american military support could be conditional on european military spending. according to a statement published after their meeting on monday, the foreign and defense ministers said they were committed to strengthening the eu<u+2019>s ability to act as a security provider. <u+201c>this will enhance its global strategic role and its capacity to act autonomously when and where necessary and with partners wherever possible,<u+201d> they said. federica mogherini, the eu foreign-policy chief called the agreement a <u+201c>qualitative leap.<u+201d> but even supporters of more cooperation, such as italian foreign minister paolo gentiloni, were more reserved, calling monday<u+2019>s decision a small step, albeit <u+201c>in a very important strategic direction.<u+201d> forging consensus in the eu is difficult, and divisions remain in the bloc over how to increase military spending or create new military capabilities. the agreements reached monday fall far short of the military command-and-control headquarters some nations wanted, or an eu army, a proposal that never had wide support. member states are still considering options for some eu governments to enter into an agreement for a deeper defense cooperation, including working together to develop new weapons systems and military capabilities that europe currently relies on the u.s. for. the new eu plan focuses on how to improve and speed up such military training missions, leaving so-called collective defense planning to nato. under the proposal, the new strategic group could plan and oversee such training but not conduct peacekeeping or other military operations. mr. trump has raised questions about nato, saying that u.s. defense of allies could be contingent on their level of military spending . u.k. defense secretary michael fallon played down concerns about the u.s. walking away from europe<u+2019>s security. <u+201c>every successive american administration has played its leadership role in nato,<u+201d> he told a small group of reporters. <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t expect a trump-led white house to be any different.<u+201d> in the short term, the most meaningful step forward by the eu will likely not be a new initiative, but simply using its standing battle groups of roughly 1,500 troops. nations contribute troops to the force for six-month periods so that the eu always has a crisis-response team ready, but the eu has never used the force. monday<u+2019>s statement, though, contains a number of other initiatives that could over time enhance european security cooperation. the bloc will review its rules with an eye to increasing the amount of common eu funding available for covering the cost of its overseas civilian and military missions. the eu will hold regular leaders<u+2019> summits on defense and security and conduct an annual ministerial review of how the eu is doing on building defense capabilities. french foreign minister jean-marc ayrault said monday<u+2019>s decisions marked a critical moment in developing the bloc<u+2019>s potential. <u+201c>europe mustn<u+2019>t await the decisions of others. it must defend its interests<u+2026> and at the same time, reinforce its strategic role on the global stage,<u+201d> he told reporters. while mr. fallon shrugged off concerns about mr. trump<u+2019>s presidency , others disagreed. mr. ayrault said it was important for the president-elect to clarify some of his campaign remarks on foreign policy. <u+201c>among the risks is a return to isolationism. that is an old american political tradition,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>that would not be a good thing either for the united states or for the world.<u+201d> write to julian e. barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com and laurence norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com
european union backs plan to expand military coordination - wsj
julian e. barnes laurence norman