Could European NATO navies operate worldwide?

Could European NATO navies assume a greater ocean-going role outside the alliance area?

Speed says treaty provisions allowed some out-of-area deployments and cites Italy's successful worldwide voyage.

John Wilkinson asks whether the Brussels Treaty prevented Germany and other European allies from sharing more of the ocean-going burden. Speed disputes the idea of a blanket prohibition and says provisions existed for deployments beyond the NATO area. He points to a successful Italian round-the-world voyage as evidence that European navies were already testing that wider role. The answer leaves the exact legal limits open but supports re-examining how allies could respond to a Soviet navy operating globally. This exchange shows that burden sharing involved geography and treaty interpretation as well as fleet size.