18. EUROPEAN SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY:
PRESIDENCY REPORT TO THE COPENHAGEN COUNCIL
(24059)
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Draft ESDP Presidency Report.
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| Legal base: | —
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| Department: | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration: | Official letter dated 5 December 2002
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| Previous Committee Report: | None; but see (22453) — : HC 152-i (2001-02), paragraph 43 (18 July 2001)
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| To be discussed in Council: | Copenhagen European Council 12-13 December 2002
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| Committee's assessment: | Politically important
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| Committee's decision: | Cleared, but EM requested on final text
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18.1 The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has made
this draft report from the Presidency[57]
available to us, under cover of an official letter which provides
an outline of the contents of the report. The letter summarises
this as follows:
EU-led operations
"Progress has been made in the following areas:
- the EU will launch its first civilian crisis management operation
on 1 January 2003 by taking over from the UN-led police operation
in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
- the EU has continued its preparatory work for a possible take
over of the NATO operation in the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia.
The fight against terrorism
"Progress was made with work carried out on the development
of a common evaluation of terrorist threat; refinement of the
impact of terrorist threat on the development of military capabilities;
utilisation of military capabilities to help protect civil populations
against the effect of terrorist attack.
The development of EU capabilities
Military
"On the military side of ESDP, the report notes progress
made in the following areas:
- Member States have been invited to refine existing contributions
to the Headline Goal, or offer more focused contributions;
- ECAP[58] panels have
considered capability shortfalls and outlined options expected
to fulfil shortfalls in the short and long term;
- co-operation in the field of armaments;
- consideration of measures for streamlining financing, procurement
and other defence policy aspects of military capabilities.
Civilian
"On the civilian side of ESDP, the report notes progress
made in the following areas:
- concrete targets in the four priority areas exceeded;
- development of the conceptual aspects of the EU civilian crisis
management capabilities;
- tasking of the competent EU bodies to take forward work on
establishing an EU planning and mission support capability.
Civil-military co-ordination
"Progress was made with the launch of an action plan to strengthen
civil-military co-ordination in EU crises management, by development
of guidelines for ESDP Crisis Response Information Activities,
and the strengthening of internal co-ordination.
Rapid response
"The report notes progress made in the following areas:
- development of procedures and concepts concerning the Rapid
Response Elements of the Headline Goal;
- improvement of command and control arrangements for national
and multinational Headquarters.
Common training
"The report notes progress made in the following areas:
- the launch of a process for the development of EU common training
at different levels within the ESDP context;
- the implementation of the EC project on Training for Civilian
Aspects of Crisis Management.
Co-operation with outside bodies
"The report notes progress made in the following areas:
- NATO: Continued efforts made aimed at reaching a comprehensive
agreement with NATO on all outstanding permanent arrangements
between the EU and NATO. Co-operation was strengthened in fields
of common concern. This section is still in draft — we hope
that at Copenhagen there will be further progress, so the report
can be amended there, or shortly before;
- International Organisations: co-operation with the
UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe has been pursued through high-level
and working-level contacts.
- Third Countries: continued co-operation.
Conflict prevention
"Progress has been made through the continuation of mainstreaming
conflict prevention into all aspects of its work".
The Government's view
18.2 As the letter was signed by the Head of Security
Policy Department of the FCO, no mention is made in the letter
of the policy implications.
Conclusion
18.3 We appreciate the speed with which the FCO has
forwarded this report to us and provided us with an outline of
the content.
18.4 The Minister may recall that, in our letter to
him of 17 July 2002, we noted that each Presidency expected to
submit a report on European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).
We asked if the Government could continue to forward the drafts
before the Council, under cover of a letter, but follow this up
with an Explanatory Memorandum when the final text was received.
Up to now, Presidencies have produced their draft reports so late
that we were prepared to accept that there was no realistic prospect
of getting an Explanatory Memorandum to us before the Council.
18.5 However, in this case, the Political and Security
Committee agreed this draft report on 3 December. We consider
that it should have been possible for the Minister, if not to
submit an Explanatory Memorandum, as least to write to us, drawing
attention to the more important political issues relating to ESDP,
and setting out the Government's view of the policy implications.
The letter from the FCO official gives no indication of these.
18.6 The June 2002 Seville European Council agreed
that preparation of documents going up to Councils would be more
systematic. We ask the Government to press for the reports on
ESDP to be prepared in a more systematic and timely fashion. We
acknowledge that some aspects of these reports may be contentious
and liable to last-minute negotiations on the text. In such cases,
square brackets or blank passages would be acceptable to us, though
the Minister, in an Explanatory Memorandum or letter, should give
some explanation of the issue under negotiation.
18.7 We clear the document but ask the Government
to submit an Explanatory Memorandum on the final text of this
draft, when available, and to send us either an Explanatory Memorandum
or a letter from the Minister on the next Presidency draft report,
which we assume will be prepared in June for the Thessaloniki
European Council.
57 Denmark
notified the Council on 8 October 2001 that it would not preside
over matters which had defence implications. In these matters,
Greece assumed the Presidency from June 2002. Back
58 European
Capabilities Action Plan. Back
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