French military presence in the overseas territories: France does not provide itself with the means for its ambitions

2022-10-18 22:00:00

The French Republic has the second exclusive economic zone in the world. But are we able to protect it and enforce it? It is to answer this question that the senator Dominique de LEGGESpecial Rapporteur of the Senate Finance Committee for the mission “Defense” became interested in our sovereignty forces.

The sovereignty forces constitute joint forces, predominantly navy, prepositioned in the overseas territories. In a particularly sensitive geopolitical context – in the Indo-Pacific in particular – they carry out broad missions, aiming the protection of the national territory, the maintenance of our sovereignty and the preservation of the resources present in the areas under French jurisdiction. They are also likely to carry out relief operations, including in neighboring countries, and to participate in military operations. Sothey contribute to affirming France’s presence and stability in their permanent area of ​​responsibility.

To successfully carry out all of these missions, the sovereignty forces must rely on limited meansrepresenting less than 1 billion euros. Since 2008 and the general review of public policies (RGPP), it has in fact been decided to “cut as accurately as possible”resulting in a 20% reduction in their workforce and a 13% drop in investment loans over the period.

If France really intends to give itself the means of its ambition – to influence international debates in all parts of the world – the next military programming law (LPM)announced for 2023, will have to provide an overall reinforcement of the personnel, military capacities and infrastructures of the sovereignty forces, commensurate with the evolution of their strategic context and the threats they face. In the shorter term, the rapporteur makes a series of recommendations aimed at remedying the worrying shortcomings, particularly in terms of capabilities, identified during his work.

Consult the report and its summary

The Finance Committee is chaired by Claude RAYNAL (SER – Haute-Garonne). Its general rapporteur is Jean-François HUSSON (The Republicans – Meurthe-et-Moselle). Dominique de LEGGE (Les Républicains – Ille-et-Vilaine) is special rapporteur for the “Defence” mission. Follow the news of the commission on its page and on Twitter

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