At a time when some UN member states, which have not signed or ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the legal framework that guarantees freedom of navigation and prohibits tolls for transit through international straits (UNCLOS), are beginning to restrict and even monetize access to essential maritime routes, Europe needs a common naval force, states an article published by the Euractiv website. According to the cited source, the idea has begun to take shape in Western chancelleries, a fact demonstrated, according to the daily The Guardian, by the action of Great Britain which, as announced by Gwyn Jenkins, the head of the British Royal Navy, wants to create a unified naval force with nine European countries to deter future Russian threats from the 'open maritime border' in the north.