Eurocorps has its origins in the
Franco-German Brigade, created in 1989. Following this approach, on 14 October 1991, France and Germany announced their intention to further strengthen European defense integration through the establishment of a corps headquarters. During the Franco-German summit in La Rochelle on 22 May 1992, French President
François Mitterrand and German Chancellor
Helmut Kohl decided to launch the project and to establish the Eurocorps headquarters. Although initially it was a Franco-German association, the Eurocorps was soon opened up to all member states of the
Western European Union (WEU). On 19 June, the European Union issued the
Petersberg Declaration, which defined those missions that could be entrusted to the WEU and that Eurocorps would also undertake: ensuring the common defense of allied countries, carrying out peacekeeping or peace-keeping operations for the benefit of the United Nations or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as other missions of a humanitarian nature. On 1 July 1992, a provisional General Staff is installed in the French city of Strasbourg to create the foundations of the Eurocorps Headquarters. On 21 January 1993, an agreement was signed with
SACEUR placing the Eurocorps at the disposal of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. On 1 October of the same year, the Eurocorps headquarters was definitively established in Strasbourg, on the basis of the General Staff activated a few months earlier. During these first years, several countries joined the Franco-German initiative. On 12 October 1993,
Belgium joined the Eurocorps with a mechanized division; on 1 July 1994, the Spanish Council of Ministers authorized the participation of
Spain with a mechanized division;
Luxembourg joined the project on 7 May 1996. In November 1995, the Eurocorps reached the necessary conditions to be officially declared operational. At that time the Eurocorps had the following units permanently affiliated: the 1st French Armored Division, the 10th German Armored Division, the 1st Belgian Mechanized Division, which included a Luxembourg reconnaissance company, the Mechanized Division "Brunete" and the Franco-German Brigade, totaling 50,000 troops, 645 tanks, 1,400 armored vehicles and 360 artillery pieces. This situation continued until 1999, when the heads of state and government of the five Eurocorps framework nations declared at the
European Council held in
Cologne (3 and 4 June) their agreement to ''"adapt the European Army Corps, and in particular its Headquarters, to the new strategic scenario in order to convert it into a European Rapid Reaction Corps, responding to the European Union's desire to have forces adapted to crisis management operations".'' The political statement was subsequently developed in the Luxembourg Report, November 1999, which set out the general guidelines for the aforementioned transformation, once again respecting the dual transatlantic and European orientation, by keeping the Eurocorps at the disposal of NATO and the EU for crisis management operations. Poland was accepted as a member in 2010. This was expected to become effective from 1 January 2016, However, a change in government with the
2015 Polish election led to the application for full membership being withdrawn in favour of remaining an associate member. In November 2021, Poland again expressed an interest in joining as a full member, and it became a framework member in 2022. On 25 February 2003,
Austria and
Finland signed a treaty which allowed them to send staff to the headquarters of the corps. Finland remained an associated nation of the corps until 2005, and Austria until 2011. while Austria rejoined as an associate nation in 2021. In addition, the
Netherlands and
United Kingdom have sent liaison officers to the headquarters of the corps. The Eurocorps has adopted a modular philosophy and the affiliation of large units is no longer permanent. Today, such affiliation is based on the actual missions in which the Eurocorps has to intervene and its only permanent units are the Headquarters and a multinational support brigade. Eurocorps is today one of the nine NATO High Readiness Land Headquarters (HRF (L) HQ), having been certified as such in 2003 and is fully integrated in the NATO Response Force (NRF) rotation system, the Eurocorps HQ is also offered to the EU for crisis management operations as a Land Component Command or
European Union Battlegroups Headquarters (EUBG).
Badge The chest badge was created by an officer of the French Army's employment office, Lieutenant Colonel
Pellabeuf. This badge, approved on 18 June 1993 under the number G4000, was produced by the Delsart company and, by order of the Chief of Staff, General Clerc, was worn for the first time on 5 November 1993, during the official ceremony of creation of the corps and in the presence of the Ministers of Defense of the three participating countries at that time (Germany, France and Belgium). Its description is "an insignia in the form of a shield symbolizing the defense of the European continent". Europe is represented by two symbols: • The blue background and the golden stars of the European flag, • A symbolic silhouette of the continent that allows us to hide some of the stars and thus avoid over-identification with the European Union or the Council of Europe. On the other hand, a sword reminds us that the Eurocorps is a large military unit. File:Insigne de poitrine de l'Eurocorps.jpg| File:Eurocorps prise d'armes Strasbourg 31 janvier 2013 05.JPG| File:Eurocorps prise d'armes Strasbourg 31 janvier 2013 01.jpg| == Organisation ==