[falklands] defended by the eu

Just a reminder of how the UK appears in EU eyes

The most serious sidelight in this new constitution seems to be:

The European Union classes the islands as a special overseas territory, subject to EU law in some areas, and eligible for some European funding initiatives. The inclusion of the islands in an appendix to the proposed European Constitution provoked a hostile Argentine response. Its mention is retained in the treaty replacing the abandoned Constitution, the Treaty of Lisbon.

As the UK is now virtually Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the nine formerly English regions, then the defenders of the Falklands are no longer Britain but the EU. Hence the self-determination on the islands and hence Argentina seeing its chance again.

Which forces would come to defend the islands this time? The UK's or the EU's? The latter has been looking for training practice. Their deployments so far, you'll notice, have not yet included former UK overseas dependencies.

However, Liam Fox has warned of the EU incursion, with particular reference to implications for NATO. The good news, if there is any, is that what the EU wants is not necessarily what they're immediately going to get.