UK Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF)

The United Expeditionary Force of Great Britain (JEF) is a British-led expeditionary force that for 2022 includes military personnel from:

• Denmark,
• Finland,
• Estonia,
• Iceland,
• Latvia,
• Lithuania,
• Netherlands,
• Sweden and
• Norway.

As of June 2022

History

2021: Iceland joins JEF

In April 2021, Iceland joined JEF.

2017: Sweden and Finland join JEF

In 2017, Sweden and Finland joined JEF.

2015:7 countries sign treaty to join JEF

On November 30, 2015, in the UK, 7 countries - Great Britain, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway - signed an agreement on the establishment of JEF.

2014: Plan for inclusion of several countries in JEF

The multinational JEF was launched publicly with a Letter of Intent as a NATO initiative at the September 2014 summit in Wales, included under the new rubric 'United Nations Framework Concept'. Germany, Britain and Italy were supposed to act as framework nations for groups of allies uniting to work together to develop the forces and capabilities required by NATO.

In September 2014, British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced the signing of a Letter of Intent between Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom to establish JEF.

2012: JRRF disbanded and JEF established in Britain

The JEF concept was first conceived in 2012 and announced by the then Chief of the Defence Staff, General David Richards. JEF emerged from the Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF), which disappeared as a result of Britain's focus on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.