ANNEX 1: COUNCIL GENERAL SECRETARIAT STUDY
OF "THE FUTURE PERSPECTIVES OF THE EUROPEAN SECURITY AND
DEFENCE COLLEGE": EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The European Security and Defence College has developed
over the last three years into a key training actor providing
Member States and EU institutions with quality training for personnel
involved in ESDP. To meet a steadily growing demand on the ESDC,
some improvements for its functioning were agreed in a review
and revision of the Council Joint Action in spring this year.
However, some difficulties remain related to future perspectives
of the ESDC in general and the current situation of the ESDC Secretariat
in particular.
The General Secretariat of the Council was tasked
to elaborate a "Study on the future perspectives of the ESDC"
in order to provide sound information for a debate on this issue
at the Council in November 2008.
Based on the previous evaluation reports of the ESDC
Steering Committee and relying on the experiences and lessons
learnt by the ESDC Secretariat from the early start in 2005 until
today, the Study elaborates possible options for a further development
of the ESDC including a general assessment of the resource implications.
The starting point is the state of play of training
undertaken by the ESDC with a significant grow of training activities
in terms of number and variety, the further development of the
IDL system and at the same time running parts of it in a transitional
phase which all together can no longer be dealt with by the current
3 staff members of the Secretariat. Insufficient staff resources
also prevent the ESDC from valuable participation in international
co-operation activities, notably with the Geneva Centre for Security
Policy and the NATO Defence College, limitations which would also
apply to further developments in international co-operation.
Key is and remains thereby the current situation
of the ESDC Secretariat within the Council Secretariat which does
not allow the recruitment of any additional staff beyond the current
three and is so identified as an obstacle to a demand-driven development
of the ESDC.
The solution proposed to meet the growing demand
on the ESDC is therefore the establishment of the ESDC / ESDC
Secretariat as a separate entity with its own premises and its
own budget.
A needs analysis with a view to the years 2009/2010
results in the need for a permanent staff of about 11 staff members,
including
— a Head of the ESDC, as already foreseen
by the current Council Joint Action,
— supported by a small administrative team
of 2 persons managing a budget, human resources and security aspects
and 1 staff for overall secretarial support of the Secretariat,
— 3 staff to run the IDL system in its
transitional phase and further develop it towards full operational
capability, and
— about 4 staff who are basically dealing
with the programming, planning, conduct and evaluation of the
training activities in support of the national institutes, and
aspects related to international co-operation.
Two concrete options are identified to establish
the ESDC as a separate entity, taking the establishment of the
European Police College as an organisation model:
— firstly, the Quartier Panquin close to
Brussels, offered by Belgium as a potential location to accommodate
the ESDC and its staff, and
— secondly, the renting of offices in the
centre of Brussels. The building currently occupied by the WEU
Secretariat might be an option.
Furthermore, it is recommended that training activities
falling under the ESDC should get financial support through the
budget of the ESDC.
Consideration has been given to management and co-ordination
of other training initiatives at EU level. The study comes to
the conclusion that the ESDC, if established properly, could be
a suitable framework for hosting and providing management support
for
— training activities in the field of civilian
crisis management,
— training initiatives currently undertaken
by the EDA to close significant capability gaps in the intelligence
area, and "Enhancing the mutual understanding of stakeholders
engaged in co-operative programmes" (recommended in the study
of the EU ISS).
The ESDC with these additional responsibilities would
also provide the financial support to these activities through
the ESDC budget.
As regards the financial implications, 4 specific
cost factors are identified: the staff, the staff facilities,
the development and running of the IDL system and the training
activities. The overall cost estimate is elaborated on this basis
and differentiates between 2 options which so far do not include
costs related to a building and/or offices needed and related
operational costs.[9]
Option 1 is considered
to be the ESDC as a separate entity with a focus on its strategic
level training, with 11 staff members and financial support to
the ESDC training activities (on the basis of the current academic
programme with 14 activities). This would require a budget of
about 1.6 million Euro. If parts of the staff would be made available
by Member States as Seconded National Experts, the budget could
be limited to about 1.2 Million Euro.
Option 2 is considered
to be the ESDC with additional responsibilities, with additional
6 staff members and financial support to about 50 additional training
activities through the ESDC budget. This would require a budget
of about 3.6 Million Euro. If parts of the permanent staff would
be made available by Member States as Seconded National Experts,
the budget could be limited to about 2.7 Million Euro.
Finally, among other options, the use of the CFSP
budget is considered to be a feasible options for financing the
ESDC as a separate entity.
9 "The assessment of these costs could not be
finalised in time before publishing the study due to ongoing research
into the two concrete possibilities. It will be finalised and
circulated to delegations as soon as possible." Back
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