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I imagine that there will indeed be an EU navy in due course. The French are quite keen on having dedicated EU armed forces. They have just rejoined NATO but would like to see the EU having the ability to conduct independent operations outside NATO when desired.
There have already been numerous operations involving EU land forces. The EU contribution to counter-piracy measures off Somalia, designated Operation Atalanta, is the first use of a combined EU naval force. It is titled EU NAVFOR Somalia and is commanded by Royal Navy Rear Admiral Peter Hudson from the RN fleet headquarters in Northwood.
The force comprises warships from all over Europe and the RN contribution is the Type 22 frigate HMS Cornwall. The RN also has another Type 22 frigate, HMS Cumberland, in the area as part of NATO Standing Maritime Group 2 which has been transferred from the Mediterranean. Additionally there are of course numerous warships present from a variety of other nations, including a task force from the USN.
It seems extraordinary that it takes all this sophisticated hardware, together with air patrols, to deal with a handful of youthful pirates in skiffs but the main problems are the immense sea area which they can roam operating from mother ships and the difficulty of distinguishing them from innocent fishermen.
Merchant ships are hijacked on a regular basis and there are up to a couple of hundred merchant seamen presently held hostage. Normally the shipping companies pay a ransom rather than risk losing a ship and cargo worth infinitely more than the ransom. The media are not usually very interested unless a passenger ship is involved or, as in this case, a yacht. The Chandlers have a bit of a problem as they have no money for a ransom and the British government says it will not pay one. Possibly some backdoor deal will be done, an exchange for pirates captured by the warships has been mooted as a possibility.
The Royal Navy is still the most powerful navy in Europe and the aircraft carriers in particular would be of great value to an EU Navy. President Sarkozy has this in mind and caused a stir earlier this year when he suggested that the refits of the RN carriers and the single French carrier, the nuclear powered Charles de Gaulle, be scheduled so as not to coincide. At least one carrier would always therefore be available.
The RN presently has three carriers but HMS Invincible has been mothballed and, barring an emergency, will not return to service. Illustrious and Ark Royal have a few years left in them.
Two new carriers, the Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, have been ordered after many years of procrastination. Construction has commenced and orders placed for a great deal of equipment. They are a lot larger than the three Invincible class and are intended to operate American F-35 combat aircraft. The cost of the aircraft greatly exceeds the cost of the ships and the government has decided in the last few days to order a lot less aircraft such that only the Queen Elizabeth will be supplied with F-35's and the Prince of Wales will be equipped with helicopters and function as an amphibious vessel to replace HMS Ocean.
There will be a Defence Review after the next election and George Osborne provoked disquiet last week when he said that he would be examining the break clauses in the contracts for the aircraft carriers so it may yet be that the project will be cancelled. There is a precedent for this as Royal Navy personnel will have uncomfortable memories of John Nott proposing to scrap or sell half of the Royal Navy, immediately prior to the Argentinians invading the Falklands. The reasoning was very similar in that the money saved was to be put into the air and land forces facing the Warsaw Pact in Europe whereas today the same applies to bolstering our air and land forces in Afghanistan.