Soon after Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU), its foreign affairs chief, Elmar Brok, urged the economic and political bloc to go ahead with plans to create an army. The German politician told Die Welt that EU countries need to cooperate more closely on issues of defence, and suggested the EU needs a military headquarters. He said: “We need a common (military) headquarters and a coalition (of EU countries) acting in accordance with the permanent structural cooperation of the EU Treaty. From such a group an EU army could eventually arise.” Mr Brok suggested the forces be modeled on the Franco-German Brigade, a special military brigade of the Eurocorps of the European Union. Stating that a united EU army would make European foreign policy much more effective, the foreign affairs head said such a force would: “strengthen the role of Europeans in [global] security and defense policy, make Europe able to better fulfill its responsibilities in the world and also achieve more synergies in defense spending.” While the head of the union’s foreign affairs committee acknowledged there are legal restrictions on the creation of a joint EU army because of legal restraints, he noted that it would be