Berlin Meeting June 7–8, 2017
On June 7 and 8, 2017, the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies (IFS), together with the Federal German Ministry of Defense (BMVg) and the Norwegian Ministry of Defense (FD), organized a new meeting of the German-Norwegian Security Dialogue (GERNORSEC). The seminar held at the DGAP in Berlin was the second in the series, which started in Oslo in November 2016.
This year’s meeting focused on the bilateral defense and security relationship, covering naval cooperation in the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic, military-operational cooperation in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lithuania, and the challenges of joint capability development and long-term planning. Participants from government, the armed forces, and the research community highlighted the breadth of the relationship and discussed the implications of current challenges for the European and transatlantic security order.
In their interventions, State Secretary Katrin Suder from the German ministry of defense, Norway’s Ambassador to Germany Elisabeth Walaas, and Vice Admiral Andreas Krause and Rear Admiral Lars Saunes, chiefs of the German and Norwegian navies, respectively, emphasized that the recently concluded GermanNorwegian agreement to invest jointly in new submarines and missiles was just one reflection of the deep and comprehensive relationship.
Highlights of the Discussion
Effects of the changed and changing security environment on European defense cooperation
In recent years, European security has faced both external and internal pressures that have challenged the way European nations have approached security since the Cold War. Externally, Russia’s military actions in – and subsequent occupation of – parts of Ukraine has rattled the post-Cold War security order in Europe. Furthermore, civil wars and unrest in the Middle East and North Africa have brought conflicts to Europe’s doorstep. Combined, these events have made Europe less secure. Internally, Brexit, mixed foreign policy signals from the Trump administration, and autocratic tendencies in Turkey have complicated cooperation in the Western alliance.
Individually and together, European countries need to perform a double balancing act: The first challenge is to cooperate more closely in order to shoulder more responsibility for the continent’s security – and do this without giving up on the close transatlantic relationship or sacrifice bonds with the United States. The second challenge is to invest more in collective defense without losing sight of their stakes in the Middle East and Africa and their responsibilities for international security at large. In this context, strengthening bilateral relations is a tool to share costs and risks but also an important contribution to a stable Euro-Atlantic security architecture.
Ways to enhance comprehensive bilateral relations
Bilateral relations between a small state on Europe’s northern periphery and a great power at the heart of Europe are necessarily asymmetrical. To bring benefit, states must organize their cooperation in the right way. Regular exchange should take place at all levels of government and should not be one-dimensional. Ideally, as in the case of Germany and Norway, relations stand on a solid basis; like-mindedness and trust have built up over many years.
To maintain relations, however, new approaches are necessary. Procurement should focus on defense needs rather than on other concerns such as defense-industrial policy; procurement emphasis should be on common designs to simplify the process and reduce costs; and defense-industrial cooperation should be located where it is most efficiently produced. The German-Norwegian submarine cooperation, which also includes an agreement to acquire Norwegian built missile systems, could serve as the blueprint for similar bilateral projects, or at the very least become an example for best practice. Operational cooperation on land and at sea has come a long way, most recently as part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence. Politically, Germany and Norway – together with other like-minded countries – could do more to shape the strategic agenda.
The need to connect islands of cooperation
There is no alternative to cooperation, but working closer together also brings challenges. One such challenge is to connect the different formats in a meaningful way. The Euro-Atlantic security architecture consists of multilateral organizations like NATO and the EU and a plethora of bi- and mini-lateral groupings. Each format has to make sense and has to be linked up with other frameworks. At the same time, it is important, especially for smaller partners with limited resources, to avoid cooperation overstretch, i.e. participation in too many different formats. The Framework Nations Concept (FNC), proposed by Germany in 2013 and endorsed by NATO at the 2014 summit in Wales, is a suitable model for organizing the contributions of smaller nations under the leadership of a bigger one. Connecting islands of cooperation is also relevant for knowledge. If Europeans wants to gain more autonomy from the United States, they have to step up joint work on innovation and long-term defense planning. Cooperation requires a certain level of trust. A lack of information sharing often hinders deepening ties in the most effective way.
Germany’s role as a "Framework Nation"
In recent years, Germany has changed its security outlook. Based on the principle that indifference is not an option, Germany now engages more in collective defense, participates more actively in international operations, and has increased its defense spending. Notably, Germany has also offered to take the lead in organizing multinational cooperation and to act as a “framework nation” for smaller allies and partners. This policy is outlined in the German White Paper of 2016. Most partners are not only comfortable with German leadership; they are pushing Berlin to take even more responsibility. However, the underlying dilemmas of multinational cooperation remain. How far (and how deep) can cooperation go? Where does multinational cooperation make sense and where not? How many nations should be included in a group? How much influence are smaller nations ready to cede to their bigger partners? Germany and Norway share the conviction that bilateral and regional cooperation must complement and enhance NATO and the EU.
The Way Forward
GERNORSEC brings together representatives from the Norwegian and German governments, from different branches of the Norwegian and German armed forces, and from the research community and provides them with the opportunity to exchange views on common challenges and ways to enhance cooperation.
Both the German and Norwegian ministries encouraged the conference organizers and participants to look for adequate ways to continue this kind of dialogue and to identify topics that deserve further discussion. Participants suggested including representatives from the defense industry in future rounds of discussion.
IFS and the DGAP are partners in the research program Security and Defense in Northern Europe (SNE). To learn more about GERNORSEC and the SNE program, contact Robin Allers, associate professor at IFS, or Christian Mölling, deputy director of the Research Institute at the DGAP.
