German soldiers load armored vehicles on a train at the troop exercise area in Grafenwoehr | Armin Weigel/FP via Getty Images EU’s small steps toward (whisper it) a military HQ New unit will be in charge of some military missions.

The EU is to set up a new military unit as part of its plans for greater defense cooperation, according to several diplomats — just don't call it an EU military HQ.

The Military Planning and Conduct Capabilities (MPCC) unit would be responsible for the EU training missions in Somalia, Mali and Central African Republic, and EU countries have agreed on all the major outstanding issues, according to four diplomats and two EU officials who spoke on condition of anonymity as they are involved in the talks.

The move comes as the U.K. — a longtime opponent of greater EU defense cooperation — prepares to leave the bloc and as U.S. President Donald Trump puts pressure on Europe to spend more on defense.

EU leaders endorsed the new unit at a summit in December as a way to reach the goal of further military integration because of a push by Germany, France and Italy, officials said. The final details are expected to be worked out at a meeting of foreign ministers in March. But the U.K. leads resistance to the creation of anything resembling an EU military headquarters. British officials did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

The MPCC will be based in the same Brussels HQ as the existing European Union Military Staff, described as “the source of military expertise” to the EEAS, the EU's diplomatic corps. The existing unit has several tasks including providing early warnings, situation assessment and strategic planning.

This new structure will likely be headed by Finnish general Esa Pulkkinen, already the chief of the European Union Military Staff.

The new unit would be much smaller and focused only on military operations. It would plan and conduct missions — but not all of them. Instead it would take charge of what are known in EU jargon as "non executive" missions, which means they have only an advisory role and not a mandate to conduct actions instead of the host nation.

This new structure will likely be headed by Finnish general Esa Pulkkinen, already the chief of the European Union Military Staff. But one of the issues that remains to be sorted out is his title; the Brits object to the use of the word “commander” and in official documents he's simply called “Head of the MPCC.” The new unit's other employees, in the range of 20-30 staffers, will also be mostly already employed by the European Union Military Staff. Additional personnel will come from member countries, diplomats said.

The EU already has an operational headquarters for its civilian missions — the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability unit.

London is not alone in refusing to see this as a move toward an EU military HQ. “A fairly modest in size MPCC cannot be viewed as the EU operational headquarters,” said a Polish official.

But a diplomat from one of the countries pushing for more integration said “it's a good first step” toward a fully fledged EU military HQ. Another said it was as close as the EU could get to a military headquarters while countries refuse to give up their national bases.

For countries that want the EU to become more militarily independent, further integration is key. The EU has already agreed to explore the use of a clause in the Lisbon treaty that allows countries willing to push on to do so without the consensus of others. There should be news on that front at an EU summit in June, diplomats say. But first will come talks on a multi-speed Europe at the Rome summit on March 25.

Authors: