34 Presidency report on European Security
and Defence Policy
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| Presidency Report on European Security and Defence Policy
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| Legal base | — |
| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 7 June 2006 and Minister's letter or 9 June 2006
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| Discussed in Council | 15-16 June 2006 European Council
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
34.1 At their 1998 summit meeting in St Malo, the Prime Minister
and President Chirac proposed that the European Union should have
"the capacity for autonomous action, backed up by credible
military forces": in particular, the military capacity to
take on humanitarian tasks, rescue, peace-keeping and the tasks
of combat forces in crisis management (as listed in Article 17.2
TEU, known as Petersberg tasks). These proposals were adopted
at the Cologne European Council in June 1999.
34.2 At the 1999 NATO Washington Summit and, subsequently,
the December 2000 Nice European Council, both organisations agreed
that the EU would act only where NATO as a whole was not engaged.
NATO also agreed at the Washington summit to support ESDP with
the so-called "Berlin-plus" arrangements, whereby the
EU can call on key NATO facilities in order to run its own military
operations. The Helsinki European Council in December 1999 set
Member States a military capability target known as the Headline
Goal — deploying 50-60,000 troops, capable of conducting
the full range of Petersberg Tasks, within 60 days, sustainable
for up to a year, with air and naval support as necessary, before
the end of 2003. From the likely scenarios envisaged, the EU Military
Staff (EUMS) generated the "Helsinki Headline Catalogue"
which specifies which capabilities are required in each of 144
capability areas. Member States aimed to address these shortfalls
through the November 2001 European Capabilities Action Plan (ECAP).
34.3 Notwithstanding the findings of the first phase
of ECAP in May, the June 2003 Thessaloniki European Council confirmed
that ESDP was operational across the full range of Petersberg
tasks, albeit limited and constrained by recognised capability
shortfalls.
34.4 The work that remained to be done to fulfil
all the aspects of the Helsinki Headline Goal led the June 2004
European Council nonetheless to approve a new Headline Goal 2010,
which focuses on the qualitative aspects of capabilities —
interoperability, deployability and sustainability — as
the basis of Member States' work on meeting capability shortfalls
in the medium term.
34.5 At the same time, the December 2003 European
Security Strategy, identified, in place of large-scale aggression
against any Member State, terrorism, proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction, regional conflicts, state failure and organised
crime as "new threats which are more diverse, less visible
and less predictable". This and the EU's Headline Goal 2010
aspirations led in 2004 to the Battlegroups initiative —
each Battlegroup based on a combined arms, battalion-size force
(1,500 troops) reinforced with combat support and combat service
support; sustainable in the field for 30 days, extendable up to
120 days; capable of standalone operations or for the initial
phase of large operations; employable across the full range of
both the Petersberg tasks and those identified in the European
Security Strategy; designed specifically, but not exclusively,
to be used in response to a request from the UN.
34.6 At the 2004 Capability Commitment Conference,
Member States made an initial commitment to the formation of 13
battlegroups. Four member states (UK, France, Italy and Spain)
provided their national battlegroups at an early stage of the
programme, and in 2006 a German-French battlegroup with contributions
from Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain had achieved partial operational
capability for evacuation and extraction. From January 2007, the
EU should have the full operational capability to undertake two
battlegroup-size rapid response operations, including the capability
to launch both operations almost simultaneously.
34.7 The EUs civilian crisis management capability,
or civilian ESDP, has developed in tandem, principally since the
Helsinki European Council in December 1999. The June 2000 Feira
European Council listed four priority areas in which the EU should
acquire civilian capabilities — police, the rule of law,
civil administration and civil protection — with the goal
by 2003 of a police force of up to 5,000 personnel contributing
to international missions across the range of conflict prevention
and crisis management operations. The December 2004 European Council
endorsed a Civilian Headline Goal 2008 which envisages the deployment
of civilian ESDP capabilities within 30 days of the decision to
launch a mission (e.g., to help with security sector reform and
support to disarmament and demobilisation processes) while the
December 2005 European Council agreed on a concept for setting
up and deploying civilian response teams with the initial goal
of a pool of up to 100 experts by the end of 2006 (for early assessment
of a crisis situation, support for the establishment of civilian
ESDP missions and support to an EU special representative or an
ongoing civilian operation; mobilised and deployed within five
days of a request). Latterly, the UK, Austria and Finland (past,
current and future Presidency) have set out an approach to enhance
civil-military coordination, supported by the Political and Security
Committee[111] Concept
for Comprehensive Planning.
The Austrian Presidency report
34.8 Each Presidency submits a report on European
Security and Defence Policy to the European Council (in December
or June). This report follows the usual format: recording significant
developments over the six months of the each Presidency, referring
where appropriate to activities undertaken in earlier months,
highlighting progress in specific areas and drawing attention
to others where further work is needed.
34.9 The 15-16 June European Council will endorse
the Report on ESDP developments during the Austrian Presidency
in the first half of 2006. The main sections of the report are:
EU Operational Activities; Capabilities; Civil-Military Co-ordination;
EU-NATO relations; and Security Sector Reform. The report also
covers: activity on human rights and conflict prevention; EU Emergency
and Crisis Response; Training in ESDP; Exercises; ESDP and Africa
(the EU Strategy for Africa and the Africa Peace Facility); Co-operation
with international organisations; Dialogue and co-operation with
Mediterranean partners; Co-operation with third countries; and
Field Security. Finally, there is the mandate for the incoming
Presidency wherein the Council mandates the priority areas for
the Finnish Presidency to take forward work on ESDP in the next
six months.[112]
34.10 In his 7 June 2006 Explanatory Memorandum,
the Minister for Europe (Mr Geoffrey Hoon) welcomes the Report
as an accurate and comprehensive description of progress and achievements
in ESDP under the Austrian Presidency. He says that the Austrian
Presidency was "mandated to build upon the work the UK had
done under its Presidency by continuing to make ESDP more active,
capable and coherent, including through better co-operation and
co-ordination with other international organisations and non-EU
states". He helpfully summarises the Report as follows:
OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES
"Under the Austrian Presidency ESDP activities
have continued to expand and cover a broad range of civilian and
military missions. These range from peacekeeping, peace monitoring
and assistance with the rule of law. The nature of these missions
has highlighted the importance of greater civilian-military co-ordination.
The EU has been able to respond rapidly to requests for its help
and continues to work alongside international partners, such as
the AU, UN and NATO, and with third countries, such as the ASEAN
nations in Aceh. The UK Presidency identified the size of the
CFSP budget and ensuring the availability of rapid financing for
civilian operations as key issues. Work has been taken forward
by Austria on both, resulting in the EU agreeing to a significant
increase in the CFSP budget (which pays for common costs for civilian
operations). The UK welcomes this, recognising the importance
of the contribution that the EU can make to the international
community's efforts to improve peace and security.
"In Bosnia, Operation ALTHEA, the EU's largest
military mission to date, continues to demonstrate the success
of EU co-operation with NATO under the 'Berlin Plus' arrangements.
The EU is also running a police mission (EUPM) in Bosnia and there
is good co-ordination of all EU activities in the region. In particular,
following a review of its mandate and size, the EUPM has now taken
the lead in supporting the local authorities in tackling organised
crime, while the military force deployed on Operation ALTHEA (EUFOR)
provides robust back-up where necessary. As well as building indigenous
capacity to tackle organised crime, EUPM plays an important role
in the police reform process. We supported the Council's conclusion
in its review in June of the mission that current force levels
and tasks, particularly in the fight against organised crime,
should be retained for the time being. We also welcome the acknowledgement
of the crucial role played by the EU's Special Representative
(EUSR) in maintaining coherence.
"In Macedonia, EUPOL Proxima, ended in December
2005 and has been followed by an EU Police Assistance Team with
a mandate for 6 months to provide an interim monitoring presence
until the EC CARDS programme establishes its field monitoring
operation. These missions have assisted in developing the Macedonian
police service to European standards.
"There is broad agreement within the EU,
and the international community, that the UN will no longer take
the lead in Kosovo once the ongoing status process has been concluded.
We support a leading civilian role for the EU in Kosovo following
the resolution of its final status (this is anticipated to be
around the end of 2006). With this in mind, a Planning Team has
been established to look at the EU's possible future role in Kosovo.
A Head of Team was appointed in May and is currently leading preparations
for full deployment of the team by 1 September 2006. The details
of any ESDP mission will need to be agreed once final status is
clearer, but could potentially cover policing and rule of law.
The establishment of an EU Planning Team for Kosovo (EUPT) does
not prejudge the outcome of the Status Process or any subsequent
decision by the EU to launch an ESDP mission in Kosovo. The requirement
for a military presence to act as external security guarantor
will continue to be provided through NATO.
"In the Middle East, the civilian EUJUST
LEX mission in Iraq is continuing to provide training to 770 senior
judges, police and prison governors. Feedback from participants
has been good and we have agreed to extend the mission for a further
18 months from 1 July 2006. Under the new mandate the mission
will offer a wider range of training including some specialist
courses. The Liaison Office in Baghdad, which ensures close co-ordination
with the Iraqi counterparts, the EU Member States and the International
Community, will be expanded to allow for more strategic engagement
on the ground in Iraq.
"The EU Border Assistance Mission in Rafah
(EU BAM Rafah) is continuing to monitor the Palestinian management
of the Rafah border crossing. The EU's third party presence continues
to operate well and to provide reassurance to all parties that
the border is being properly managed, despite the challenging
security situation. In January 2006 a new EU mission was
launched, the EU Police Mission in the Palestinian Territories
(EUPOL COPPS). Its 3-year mandate is to co-ordinate efforts to
implement the EU developed Civil Police Development Programme.
This will assist in establishing an effective police force. The
EU is keeping its ESDP activities in the Occupied Territories
under review to ensure that they are consistent with Quartet policy
on assistance with the new Palestinian Authority.
"In Africa, the EU has agreed to meet the
UN request made in December 2005 for a force to support MONUC
during the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) elections due to
be held in July. Known as EUFOR RD Congo, French and German troops
will form the bulk of a 1500 strong force partly forward-deployed
in Kinshasa and partly over-the-horizon for the period of the
elections. The UN Security Council passed a resolution in April
authorising the deployment of this force. The UK will provide
two personnel — one in the Operation Head Quarters (OHQ)
in Potsdam and one in the Force Head Quarters (FHQ) in Kinshasa.
The EU is also strengthening its police advisory mission (EUPOL
Kinshasa) to help advise on public order issues during the election.
We are pleased that a number of African nations will be supporting
the EU during this time. It should be noted that as a consequence
of activating the OHQ at Potsdam the EU has been forced to cancel
Crisis Management Exercise '06 (CME 06) originally planned for
25 September to 6 October 2006.
"Also in the DRC the UK continues to participate
in an EU Security Sector Reform mission (EUSEC DRC). This is supporting
the transitional government in integrating former rebel factions
into a unified army prior to elections. Preparations are under
way to help the new Government carry out much needed structural
reforms once the elections are completed.
"In Sudan, the EU is continuing to work
closely with the AU through AMIS II in the Darfur region.
"The Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) was the
first ESDP operation in Asia and is carried out in partnership
with five ASEAN countries (Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand). Following an invitation by the Indonesian
government the mission has been extended for a further 3 months
and will conclude in September 2006 following local elections.
CAPABILITIES
"The missions carried out so far demonstrate
how far the EU has come in being considered as a key organisation
for supporting efforts to improve peace and stability around the
world. The EU has a unique ability to provide assistance using
its wide range of instruments, from political, diplomatic and
economic measures, through policing and monitoring activities
to military means. In order to do so it needs to ensure that increased
coherence and capability remain at the forefront of its efforts
in developing ESDP.
"On the civilian side, the Austrians have
continued to focus on implementing the Civilian Headline Goal
2008, a number of workshops were held, focussing on the main issues
as outlined in the Report. In addition the UK held a workshop
on Civilian Crisis Management: Operational Models. Officials dealing
with civilian deployments from across the EU shared best practice
and lessons learnt with a view to improving standards and feeding
into the CHLG 2008 process.
"In March 2006 the UK and all other Member
States responded to the military Headline Goal Questionnaire,
declaring the pool of assets from which they will offer any future
contribution to ESDP operations. Member States will now assess
their own asset declarations, using the methodology provided by
the Scrutinising Handbook, which was developed during the Austrian
Presidency. This assessment will be the basis for the Force Catalogue,
presenting an objective view of the EU's capabilities and allowing
the identification of capability gaps. The EU Battlegroups initiative
continues to be successful. From 2007 Full Operating Capability
will commence with two Battlegroups on permanent standby capable
of responding rapidly in the event of a crisis or emergency. The
UK's commitment to the Battlegroup initiative has been demonstrated
by the provision of a national Battlegroup on standby for six
months in 2005, again in 2008 and in a joint Battlegroup with
the Netherlands in 2010. The UK has continued to ensure that the
initiative does not compete or conflict with contributions to
the NATO Response Force. The forces are designed to be complementary
and mutually reinforcing, each providing a positive and successful
impetus for military capability improvement.
"During the course of the Austrian Presidency
the UK launched a Strategic Airlift Initiative. Member States
will calculate their national airlift requirements, based on national
and multilateral (EU, NATO and others) commitments and address
ways to meet them in ad-hoc groupings with other nations who have
similar needs. This recognises that nations may wish to adopt
different approaches to meet their airlift requirements and supports
the UK's objectives to persuade other Member States develop their
military capabilities for modern expeditionary warfare and ensure
complementarity between the EU and NATO. The initiative has received
broad support.
"The European Development Agency (EDA) has
continued work on its four flagship programmes and the UK particularly
welcomes progress on opening up the European Defence Equipment
Market. During the UK presidency the need for an increase in Defence
R and T spending was identified, and the EDA is taking this forward,
including through its involvement with the Headline Goal. The
work of the EDA is aimed at improving military effectiveness amongst
the EU Member States while avoiding unnecessary duplication, in
a way that will benefit both the EU and NATO. The 2006 work plan
includes continuation of 2005 flagship projects as well as starting
work on number of new projects. There are also new areas of interest,
such as strategic airlift. The UK supported voluntary Code of
Conduct on Defence Procurement comes into force from 1 July 2006.
This was developed in response to fears that a lack of intra-EU
competition for defence equipment contracts could lead to a lack
of competitiveness to deliver European defence capability requirements
cost-effectively.
"Two papers were written to consider the
requirements of military operations that could be met by satellite
systems. The first identified the specific capability needs identified
in the Headline Goal 2010 process that might be met by space assets
while the second considers generic military requirements. In line
with UK policy objectives, there are no proposals to develop EU
military satellite systems.
CIVIL-MILITARY CO-ORDINATION
"As part of a UK/Austria/Finland tri-Presidency
agreement, Austria has produced a framework paper of possible
solutions for the management of EU Crisis Management Operations.
This will help orientate future work in relation to improved Civil-Military
Co-ordination. We see the establishment of the Civil/Military
Cell as an important step to improve such co-ordination within
Council structures. We also look forward to working with the Secretary
General/High Representative on following up on the Hampton Court
agenda to make the EU's crisis management structures more coherent.
We expect that the facilities to set up an Operation Centre (OpCen)
will be available from end 2006. This will provide valuable professional
capability for running civilian/military missions, and co-ordinate
disaster relief when appropriate.
DISASTER RESPONSE
"We welcome the Secretariat paper on improving
the co-ordination of military transport assets in support of civilian-led
EU disaster response efforts and look forward to working closely
with the Presidency on the detailed practical arrangements. We
will also be looking closely at how best to make available other
military assets when and where appropriate.
SECURITY SECTOR REFORM
"The UK launched under its Presidency a
Concept for Security Sector Reform (SSR) that will underpin work
the EU is undertaking in, for example, the Democratic Republic
of Congo to help improve security institutions, where the EU can
bring military, police, judicial and economic expertise together
with access to finances. We welcome the Commission Communication
on Security Sector Reform which complements the work done under
our Presidency and which will help develop a comprehensive cross-pillar
framework for this important work.
MULTILATERAL RELATIONS
"The EU has continued to develop closer
ties with other international organisations, notably NATO and
the UN. The EU and NATO continue to co-operate closely in Bosnia
and Darfur, and also on capabilities as described above. Co-operation
with NATO has been further enhanced with the setting up of a permanent
EU cell within NATO and a similar permanent NATO cell within the
EU Military Staff. The EU response to the UN request for assistance
in the DRC during the election period is evidence of the growing
EU-UN relationship.
"The EU continues to provide support to
peace and security in Africa. Through its two operations in DR
Congo and work with the AU in Darfur, the EU is helping the AU
to develop its own crisis management capacity. The EU's work remains
founded on the principles of the need for African ownership; the
close co-ordination with other international organisations and
to focus on where the EU can add most value".
34.11 In a separate letter of 9 June 2005, the Minister
says that "We had hoped to deposit the ESDP report before
now, given that the European Council is less than two weeks away.
Regrettably this was not possible because a draft of the final
text was only released on 1 June. We hope that there will be sufficient
time for the report to clear scrutiny before it is adopted at
the end of next week."
Conclusion
34.12 In his Explanatory Memorandum on the last
such Report, at the end of the UK Presidency, the Minister's predecessor
said that "ESDP has now come of age" and that "the
key challenge is no longer one of institution building, but is
now one of ensuring an effective EU response … to make ESDP
more active, more capable and more coherent, including through
better co-operation and co-ordination with other international
organisations and non-EU states". The picture is accordingly
very much of "steady as she goes" activity in line with
this mandate, to consolidate and take forward activities with
which we are familiar from documents we have scrutinised in recent
months. But although the Minister does not refer to them, there
are a number of major challenges.
34.13 In a 14 December 2005 letter to the Prime
Minister for the December European Council, Secretary General/High
Representative Javier Solana recalled that the informal Hampton
Court meeting of EU Heads of State and Government last October
noted the EU's rapid expansion in crisis management and its increasingly
important role in the world and asked him to take work forward
in four specific areas:
— improving
EU defence capabilities by increasing levels of research spending,
finding opportunities for research collaboration, tackling capability
gaps and collaborating as partners on training;
— ensuring EU crisis management structures
can meet the new demands on them including for responding to natural
disasters;
— increasing CFSP funding, with a better
way to finance civilian operations rapidly; and
— ensuring the EU is ready to assume
greater responsibility in Kosovo and improving the coordination
of EU action in the Balkans, especially on organised crime.
He also says financing is a complicated issue,
in which the Commission has important responsibilities, and that
the need is to find a pragmatic way forward. He looks forward
to seeing the Commission ideas, will take all this work forward
working closely with the Commission and with all Member States
and hopes to have more detailed proposals to put to the Council
over the next six months.
34.14 The immediate challenge has been at least
met for the time being, via an increase in the CFSP budget, from
€62.6 million in 2005 to €102.6 million foreseen in
2006. But as Mr Solana comments, most of this money is already
earmarked. So, he continues, while most of the costs for ongoing
operations in 2006 should be financed from the budget, additional
funding may be required, particularly if new operations are launched
during the year. He says that estimates for CFSP needs in 2006,
plus a contingency margin, total around €120 million (not
including a possible operation in Kosovo). At Hampton Court, he
says there was general agreement on the need for a substantial
increase in funds to cover the common costs of EU crisis management
operations and other CFSP measures, and that the figure of €300
million per annum suggested by one Head of government received
widespread support. As Mr Solana puts it, "Given the Union's
ambitions and capacities, this figure is not unreasonable".[113]
34.15 We have been engaged in discussion for
a long time with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (and the
Ministry of Defence) regarding the effective scrutiny of European
Security and Defence Policy. Until recently, it was FCO practice
to alert the Committee to the likely contents of each Report via
a letter from a senior official, which was particularly valuable
in those instances where — as with the battlegroups concept
— a significant step had been under discussion and was to
be proposed in the draft Report. This practice appears to have
been discontinued.
34.16 On this occasion, the picture is very much
of endeavours to consolidate and take forward activities with
which we are familiar. But with the Explanatory Memorandum being
submitted barely a week before the European Council, there would
have been insufficient time for proper scrutiny of any major development
— for example, any on future funding. Perhaps an outline
of the report was not submitted earlier, in line with established
practice, because the Minister knew that it would contain nothing
controversial. In any event, we will wish to discuss this with
him when he gives evidence to us.
34.17 In the meantime, we clear the document.
111 The committee of senior officials from national
delegations who, under article 25 TEU, monitor the international
situation in areas covered by the CFSP and, under the general
responsibility of the Council, exercise political control and
strategic direction of crisis management operations. Back
112
Set out in the Annex to this paragraph. Back
113
http://ue.eu.int/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/reports/87644.pdf. Back
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