Integrating military labor markets boosts Europe's hard power

European countries, alone, are small and vulnerable in a big world. The backbone of every strong military is a capable and properly staffed force. European armies tend to be undermanned compared to their potential adversaries or rivals. Comparatively strong France [relative to the rest of Western Europe], with a population of under 70M and an army of 270K cannot stand up to Russia, with a population of 140M and an army of 1.5-2.4M (including reservists)… alone. Many European countries struggle to recruit enough forces to meet their defense requirements. But if Europe worked together it could tap into its massive population of 450M and unleash the competitive advantages each EU nation has developed. Europe should integrate recruitment and training across borders to develop a common talent pool – to enable people in one country train and serve for another. This coalesced recruitment and skilling approach will support the greater European project in myriad ways.

The United States currently allocates just over 3% of its GDP on defense to enable 0.7% of its population to serve (including both active duty and reserve troops). NATO allies are likely targeting over 3% of GDP towards defense as well. If the same percentage of Europe’s overall population were in the armed forces as the US, a cumulative 5.2M people could serve, far more than the current sum of 2.2M across European countries (including reservists, not including Finland’s potential conscripts). A combined military force of over 5M would make Europe the greatest military power in the world by personnel today.

Integrating military labor markets at the EU level would tap into the advantages member countries have created based on their historical priorities, educational institutions, and national specializations. France, for instance, has a strong officer pipeline via the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr and École Polytechnique and a good techno-engineering military base thanks to its focus on nuclear power and defense industry. Poland has a large and growing legacy military capabilities with lots of infantry and large armored and artillery components. Finland is a world-leader in Arctic warfare, hybrid defense, and reservist training and readiness. When these competencies are made available to a larger EU-wide pool of talent, higher competition will improve meritocratic outcomes in the jobs that matter and reduce talent shortages. 

Indeed, talent shortages are one of the key factors likely to improve by integrating recruitment. According to microeconomic theory, most labor shortages suggest the market is not clearing at the prevailing wage. In other words, the wages paid are not sufficient to fill jobs. When cash-strapped governments set wages though, they can struggle to compete with their domestic private sector. But given that wages are generally lower in Eastern Europe and higher in the West, governments could normalize military wages across the EU, wages for lower-skill jobs in the West can probably be lowered while high skilled jobs in the East would have to rise, contributing to a reversal of the last 3 decades of brain drain from East to West.

How realistic is a combined European defense talent strategy? Many apparent limitations have tenuous foundations. The first question is that of loyalty – can someone born in Spain be expected to fight well for Romania? According to two existing treaties that cover either all or most EU countries (Article 42 of the European union and NATO’s Article 5, respectively), EU nations may already fight side by side in the event of a defensive war. Banding together enables the protection of one’s homeland better than going at it alone. In any case, people join the military for more than patriotism; socioeconomic, developmental, and educational factors can be more important, and people stay in uniform because of pride in their unit and love of their fellow servicemembers.  If we assume that citizenship is a motivator or legal barrier, then offering paths to citizenship should not be a major lift for many nations: thanks to the Schengen agreement, EU citizens can already travel freely; people can become citizens of most EU countries after only a couple years of residency – typically just around the length of a military contract.

Who will pay? Spending towards common funds to recruit, skill, and pay individuals can be directly determined by each nation’s economic heft to ensure spending is spread fairly and proportionately.  How would people communicate? A common tongue should be used – preferably English. Attitudes towards multilingualism are very positive among EU citizens, 86% agree that everyone should speak at least one other language than their mother tongue. 76% of Europeans believe that improving language skills should be a policy priority. Right now, English is spoken by about half of Europeans, a figure that rises to 70% among the youth.

A common defense talent pathway pays additional dividends beyond more resilient and better staffed armed forces. Centralized training at the European level can inculcate feelings of pan-European belonging across EU countries as people train together; consider the success of the long-standing Erasmus program. For some low-growth states, the potential savings from contributing to this large project that benefit from synergies and scale may ultimately soften the financial costs of rearmament, liberating funds for other uses. The military is often used for non-combat tasks, a common EU talent system streamlines deployment and interoperability across borders in the event of a natural disaster or refugee crisis. As the lingua franca of the world, supporting more English-language proficiency will have other positive effects for globalized economies; my father learned to speak English while serving with the French army and international forces in his youth, he is now a professor at an elite American university. Recognizing military skills across the EU could lay the groundwork for a standardized framework for vocational qualifications. Finally, developing a cross-EU funding structure could support cross-border flows of cash, further supporting the EU goal of a more integrated financial system, not to mention the synchronized bureaucratic rules and apparatuses required.

Europeans often have more in common with one another than they think. It is possible to create processes that enable people to work together while cherishing everyone’s unique history, traditions, and national sovereignty. The more Europeans work together, coordinating industrial policy and integrating financial markets, the more competitive the continent becomes. Cooperation is already the foundation that safeguards Europe’s interests. Integrating defense labour markets will yield more resilient, innovative, and capable national forces and ensure a prosperous future amid turbulent times.