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The vote was not supported by everyone in the Strasbourg Parliament after it narrowly passed by 369 votes to 255, with 70 abstentions. And astonishingly it has been agreed that the EU should also be prepared to act autonomously in cases where NATO is not willing to take the lead. However the EU is celebrating this victory claiming the security situation in and around Europe has worsened significantly in recent years, due to challenges like terrorism, hybrid threats or cyber and energy insecurity.

GETTY The EU has narrowly won a vote to create an EU army

GETTY The EU has agreed to spend £420m a year on its new army

The momentum to move towards a working European Defence Policy has come Rapporteur Urmas Paet

It says no country is able to tackle defence alone and “solidarity and resilience require the EU to stand and act together”. European politicians have now guaranteed at least £420m-a-year in funding to set up their new European wide army which will be a "rapid response" team. They suggest devoting an initial two per cent of the overall GDP to defence, establishing multinational forces and EU headquarters to plan and command crisis management operations, and enabling the EU to act where NATO is unwilling to do so.

GETTY The EU army is happening after MEPs decided to plough

Rapporteur Urmas Paet who supported the plans told the debate: “Our Union is not equipped to face overwhelming defence challenges. For almost 30 years, most of its member states have been cutting their defence budgets, leading to smaller armed forces. "Cooperation among member states is occasional and Europe continues to rely heavily on NATO capabilities and on the US solidarity. “The momentum to move towards a working European Defence Policy has come.” MEPs want the EU to respond faster and more robustly to real threats, which, they say, demand that Europe’s armed forces work together better.

GETTY The EU has taken steps that will override NATO

They say that duplication, overcapacity and barriers to defence procurement result currently in annual waste of €26.4 billion and they now want to pool resources meaning they will be able to action a plan to access defence strategies in individual countries. MEPs call on member states to pursue joint purchases of defence resources, and to pool or share non-lethal material such as transport vehicles or aircraft. They suggested introducing a “European Defence Semester, whereby member states would consult each other’s planning and cycles and procurement plans” and advocate strengthening the European Defence Agency’s coordination role. The resolution also called upon the European Council to lead the creation of “common Union defence policy and to provide additional financial resources ensuring its implementation.”

MEPs back the proposed EU investment in defence-related research projects “of at least £76m (90 million euro) during next three years”, suggesting that this should be followed up by a separate European Defence Research Programme with an annual budget of €500 million. The politicians believe that the EU and NATO should cooperate more, particularly in the east and the south, to countering hybrid and cyber threats, improve maritime security and develop defence capabilities. MEPs will also debate a separate resolution on the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) on Tuesday evening, and vote on it on Wednesday. The draft text suggests radically overhauling the CSDP and launching a training operation in Iraq to support member states involved in the coalition against Daesh.

GETTY Ukip leader Mike Hookem has slammed the decision to vote for an EU army