The Eurocorps
The Eurocorps
TextTowards Franco-German military cooperation
'Europe's stage armies' from The Guardian (17 October 1991)
TextOn 17 October 1991, the British left-wing daily newspaper The Guardian focuses on the Franco-German proposal to create a European Army Corps.
‘Bonn and Paris to create a Eurocorps’ from La Libre Belgique (21 May 1992)
TextOn 21 May 1992, reporting on the Franco-German Summit in La Rochelle, the conservative daily newspaper La Libre Belgique outlines the nature and the objectives of the Eurocorps.
The establishment of Eurocorps
Statement on the establishment of a Franco-German European Army Corps (La Rochelle, 22 May 1992)
TextOn 22 May 1992, at the Franco-German Summit in La Rochelle, President François Mitterrand and Chancellor Helmut Kohl launch Eurocorps.
Joint press conference held by François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl (La Rochelle, 22 May 1992)
TextOn 22 May 1992, at the 59th Franco-German Summit held in La Rochelle, François Mitterrand, President of France, and the German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, announce jointly the establishment of a Franco-German European Army Corps and invite the Member States of Western European Union (WEU) to take part.
Interview granted to Radio Monte-Carlo by Roland Dumas (La Rochelle, 22 May 1992)
TextOn 22 May 1992, on the margins of the 59th Franco-German Summit held in La Rochelle, Roland Dumas, French Foreign Minister, outlines the geopolitical implications of Eurocorps to Radio Monte-Carlo reporters.
'Eurocorps and NATO' from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (22 May 1992)
TextOn 22 May 1992, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung stresses the need for the introduction of an effective European defence policy and examines the role of Eurocorps.
Petersberg Declaration made by the WEU Council of Ministers (Bonn, 19 June 1992)
TextMeeting on 19 June 1992 in Bonn, the Foreign and Defence Ministers of the member States of Western European Union (WEU) adopt the Petersberg Declaration which provides for the strengthening of WEU’s operational role and which determines its role in Europe’s security policy and the state of its relations with the other Member States of the European Union and NATO.
‘Eurocorps: a welcome catalyst' from La Libre Belgique (5 April 1993)
TextOn 5 April 1993, the conservative daily newspaper La Libre Belgique discusses the issues of European defence as the Eurocorps experiment gets under way.
Joint communiqué issued by France and Germany on the Eurocorps (Beaune, 2 June 1993)
TextOn 2 June 1993 in Beaune, at the Franco-German Defence and Security Council, France and Germany emphasise their determination to promote a European Defence and Security Identity within the European Union.
The Eurocorps emblem
BildThe form and colour of the Eurocorps emblem symbolise the defence of Europe. The yellow stars stand for the the European Union, the sword for its armed might. The outline of the European continent represents both the limits of the European Union and Eurocorps’ commitment to peace and security on behalf of Europe and the Atlantic Alliance.
Inauguration of the Eurocorps (Strasbourg, 5 November 1993)
BildOfficial ceremony held in front of the Palais du Rhin in Strasbourg on 5 November 1993 to mark the establishment of the Eurocorps.
Lieutenant General Helmut Willmann
BildOn 1 October 1993, Lieutenant General Helmut Willmann of Germany becomes the first Commanding General of the Eurocorps.
Statement by Alain Lamassoure on the participation of Eurocorps in the Bastille Day parade (29 June 1994)
TextOn 29 June 1994, in the light of the lively debates sparked by the participation of German soldiers in the Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, Alain Lamassoure, French Minister Delegate for European Affairs, emphasises to the National Assembly the essential role played by Eurocorps in European defence policy.
The Eurocorps on parade (Paris, 14 July 1994)
BildOn 14 July 1994, the Eurocorps takes part in the military parade along the Champs-Élysées in Paris to mark the French National Day. For the first time since the end of the Second World War, German soldiers march on French soil as a symbol of Franco-German reconciliation in a European context.
Cartoon by Haitzinger on the Eurocorps (July 1994)
Bild‘Careful to make a good impression: German soldiers from the Eurocorps on the Champs-Élysées.' In July 1994, the German cartoonist, Horst Haitzinger, refers, in his own inimitable fashion, to the participation, on 14 July, of German soldiers in the parade held on the Champs-Élysées in Paris to mark the French national day.
The early days of Eurocorps in pictures
VideoProduced in 1996 by the European Parliament, this film clip shows images dedicated respectively to the meeting in Verdun, on 22 September 1984, between François Mitterrand, President of the French Republic, and Helmut Kohl, German Chancellor, who stand in silent remembrance before the tombs of the German and French soldiers who fell on the battlefield in the First World War; to the military procession of 14 July 1984 on the Champs-Élysées in Paris in the presence, in particular, of François Mitterrand, Édouard Balladur, French Prime Minister, Helmut Kohl, Felipe González, Spanish Prime Minister, Jacques Santer, Luxembourg Prime Minister, and Jean-Luc Dehaene, Belgian Prime Minister; and, finally, to the inauguration, on 5 November 1993, in Strasbourg, of the Eurocorps in the presence, in particular, of François Léotard, French Defence Minister, Volker Rühe, German Defence Minister, and Leo Delcroix, Belgian Defence Minister.
Eurocorps in operation
Signing of a cooperation agreement between Eurocorps and NATO (Brussels, 21 January 1993)
BildOn 21 January 1993, at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Headquarters in Brussels, General John Shalikashvili, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR), and the French and German Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Jacques Lanxade and General Klaus Naumann, sign an agreement establishing operational links between the NATO military structure and the Franco-German Eurocorps.
Communiqué issued by the WEU Council of Ministers (Rome, 19 May 1993)
TextOn 19 May 1993, in Rome, the Foreign and Defence Ministers of the Member States of Western European Union (WEU), meeting as the WEU Council of Ministers, welcome the fact that all the Member States are currently deciding which of their military units and headquarters they are prepared to make available to WEU for various possible tasks. The Council particularly welcomes the designation of the European Corps (Eurocorps), the Multinational Division (Central) and the UK/Netherlands amphibious force as forces answerable to WEU.
Address given by Édouard Balladur to the Eurocorps staff (Strasbourg, 31 January 1995)
TextOn 31 January 1995, Édouard Balladur, French Prime Minister, addresses the Eurocorps staff in Strasbourg in order to pay tribute to the activities undertaken by Eurocorps and to praise the political will of certain European countries to create a European defence identity.
‘Eurocorps goes operational' from Le Monde (1 December 1995)
TextOn 1 December 1995, the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes the establishment and the tasks of Eurocorps, the first component of a European defence pillar comprising Belgian, French, German, Luxembourg and Spanish troops.
Departure of the first Eurocorps contingent for Bosnia (June 1998)
BildIn June 1998, Eurocorps contingents prepare to take part in the operations of the multinational military force directed by NATO in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR — Stabilisation Force).
SFOR mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina (June 1998 – December 1999)
BildThe Eurocorps undertakes its first operational mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina between June 1998 and December 1999.