GETTY The EU is plotting a huge military merger if the UK votes to stay in the bloc

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Brussels bureaucrats are railroading through contentious plans to vastly expand the European Union’s military scope which could ultimately end with the British army being subsumed into a vast continental force. The UK military could also be forced to share highly sensitive weapons technology - which we have spent millions of pounds of taxpayers' money developing - with the rest of Europe under an agreement to boost military cooperation between member states. Britain would also be expected to contribute around £375million to the scheme - enough to rehire all of the 20,000 soldiers the Government sacked in its last defence spending review.

Last night critics branded the plans "scandalous" and said only a vote for Brexit in the upcoming referendum can guarantee the future of the 356-year-old British army. One former servicewoman, who asked not to be named, told Express.co.uk the proposals would require the the military to change the centuries old Oath of Allegiance for new soldiers, because they would no longer be "bearing true allegiance" to the Queen. She raged: "It'll be like ashes in the mouths of service personnel.”

GETTY In future British troops could have to swear allegiance to Brussels

GETTY The Union Jack could be replaced by the EU flag on our uniforms

The plans have been unveiled by bureaucrats who are preparing to revive proposals to draw up a legally binding "white book" which would vastly expand the military role of the EU. Britain has by far the biggest and best equipped army in Europe and is to plough some £2.2bn into developing new weapons this year alone. But under the new EU plans we could in future be blocked from researching new military technology which would benefit the British Army, instead being forced to plough money into projects for the wider benefit of the whole EU project. Brussels bureaucrats are now calling for a "systematic and long-term policy framework" across Europe which would establish "a genuine harmonisation and coordination of operational and military requirements". The bombshell proposal adds new laws should force member states to "fight off the temptation to add national specifications" to weapons development projects.

It is contained in an official EU report setting out recommendations for a new EU-wide defence R&D scheme with an astonishing 3.6bn euro budget to develop weapons for a future Brussels army. The dossier has been put together by a "group of personalities" including politicians and businessmen hand-picked by the EU to deliver its dream of becoming a full military power. Establishing a standing EU army is seen by Brussels as one of the final steps in the creation of a United States of Europe, with the continent already hurtling towards full fiscal and political union. Both current EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and former British prime minister Tony Blair, who wants to be his successor, have called for the bloc to have its own military. The report is based on the presumption that the EU project will acquire its own army within decades and states that more cooperation between member states will be needed to "satisfy procurement needs".

GETTY The British army has survived four centuries and defended Britain's interests throughout

GETTY The Queen is the current head of the British Army, but for how much longer?

Are we going to be pulling the Union Jack off our uniforms and stitching on the EU flag? UKIP's Mike Hookem

It proposes an initial Preparatory Action (PA) plan, to be launched immediately with a budget of 100 million euros, which will pave the way for a fully-fledged EU-funded Defence Research Programme (EDRP) to begin in 2021. The report states: "The PA and the EDRP should act as a catalyst for European cooperation in key capability areas, breaking down the barriers and overcoming the disincentives to cooperation that exist today. "Effective coordination must ensure that the PA as well as the ensuing EDRP complements and supplements other research activities at the European, national or NATO levels, and does not lead to duplicated efforts at any level." The authors argue setting up an EU defence project is of "critical importance for Europe's long-term security" and add that it needs a gargantuan 3.5 billion euro budget "in order to be credible and make a substantial difference". They recommend setting up a European Defence Advisory Board, of which they would all be members, adding that they want "direct access to the highest level of the EU institutions" so they can "play an active part in the definition of a long-term European military capabilities blueprint, building on the ongoing debate about a possible European defence 'White Book'".

GETTY Will UK soldiers have to swear allegiance to Jean-Claude Juncker rather than the Queen?

Mike Hookem MEP UKIP's Mike Hookem, himself a veteran, branded the plans 'scandalous'

The report adds: "Since no European country can afford to maintain a full-spectrum defence industrial base on its own, the logical solution is to work with like-minded partners and improve defence cooperation by making the most effective use of the tools available to the Union. "Shaping a shared European perspective as the best way to make use of both the budgetary resources and the economies of scale required to reinforce Europe¹s ability to keep up with the US and remain competitive worldwide. "Europe's strategic autonomy depends on a more collaborative approach towards defence-related capability planning." It concludes: "The European Union is a global player with global interests and responsibilities. "Being an effective player, however, requires capabilities in critical military areas and an appropriate level of strategic autonomy, freedom of action and security of supply. "Adequate strategic autonomy can only be obtained and preserved through sustained investment in research and development to ensure that European countries' armed forces have access to the kind of in-depth, system-level know-how that can only be acquired when cutting-edge military capabilities are developed domestically. "Achieving an appropriate balance of strategic autonomy is therefore vital to ensuring security for all European citizens."

The pros and cons of Brexit Fri, February 26, 2016 The pros and cons of Brexit. Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 12 Pros and cons of Brexit

The plans were put together by the EU's Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and released just hours after a group of generals signed a letter written by the Government claiming Britain is safer in the EU. But UKIP's defence spokesman Mike Hookem - himself a former serviceman in the RAF - warned an EU army would leave the UK unable to defend its own interests in the world, including the Falklands. He said: "When you sign up you pledge allegiance to her Majesty the Queen. Who are you going to swear allegiance to in the future, Jean-Claude Juncker? "Are we going to be pulling the Union Jack off our uniforms and stitching on the EU flag? It's scandalous. "During the Falklands war France was selling weapons to the Argentinians. If they try to take back the Falklands again will France let us use this EU army to defend them? I doubt it. "There's only one people who can defend the British, and that's the British themselves."