Euro barmy army

When European leaders go on about the need to have an EU army, or as President Macron said today, a European integrated military force, I start to think that Brexit maybe isn't as bad as I thought after all. Actually I do think Britain leaving the EU is a terrible mistake, but the idea of an EU army always sounded to me like a giant step too far. There is a perfectly good military organisation called Nato which embraces all the Europeans, so why complicate the European security framework by having a potentially rival force? Macron said it would be a complementary, not a rival set-up, but we've heard that one before. This debate has been going on for years. There used to be a thing called the Western European Union that set itself up in grand style, had its own headquarters in Brussels but achieved very little and eventually died a death. The best force available for major emergencies, military or otherwise in Europe or further afield is Nato or a coalition of the willing. I'll call it COW, because every organisation needs to be an acronym. COW can be led by the US or Britain or France, all of whom have substantial or semi-substantial military capabilities, and others can latch on if they want to. We've seen COWs work well all over the place, masterminded by the US. But a Euro army, with every member of the EU sending officers and enlisted soldiers and armoured vehicles and aircraft and missiles - I envisage a nightmare. Every time I hear of plans to have a United Nations standing force I think...nightmare. UN peacekeeping missions CAN work sometimes, but more often than not, hundreds of badly trained troops arrive with light blue berets and wander around in uncoordinated fashion or drive brand new Toyota Land Cruisers all day with no particular mission in mind. That's probably a bit harsh but you get the picture. The world does not need or want a huge European army, or an EU integrated military force overseen by Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission and a national of Luxembourg which most Americans have never heard of! So, Mr Macron, suck your thumb and think of something new, forget about a European army, it was never a good idea when it was first thought of decades ago, and it is still a rotten idea and a waste of time and money.