| Author (Person) | Davies, Eric | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 20.5.03 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 20/05/2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Meeting on 19 May 2003, at a Capabilities Conference, EU Defence Ministers discussed the Union's progress towards the 'headline goal' set at the Helsinki European Council in December 1999. The headline goal says that, by 2003, the EU should be able 'to deploy within 60 days and sustain for at least one year military forces of up to 50,000 - 60,000 persons capable of the full range of Petersberg tasks'. (The tasks were defined in the Western European Union's 1992 Petersberg Declaration, and are split into three broad categories: humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping, and crisis management). Speaking before the Defence Ministers' meeting, Javier Solana, the EU's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, said that there was a 'better picture' of European capabilities and their shortfalls and greater understanding of their implications for the Union's military operations. These he described as two areas of progress, to which could be added the facts that the European Capability Action Plan 'has produced a sound basis for Member States to deliver additional capabilities' and that implementation has already started in some areas. Mr Solana stressed, however, that much remains to be done. He also highlighted two recent developments which can be seen as helping the Union achieve its targets: the agreement with NATO on cooperation in crisis management, which has given the Union better access to critical assets and capabilities, and reports from the European Capability Action Plan (ECAP) panel, which suggest that some critical gaps could be closed without major investments, but by better coordination of existing national capabilities. 'Political will remains a fundamental condition' for the success of the Union's military aspirations, said Mr Solana. 'The real challenge of ESDP is not limited to piling up more national force elements. It is mainly to improve our collective capability to act together.' Addressing the issue of armaments, he said that Member States 'should organise European demand so that armed forces can be equipped with quality materiel at reasonable cost. National armaments officials must be involved in the capability process. A lot remains to be done to harmonise military requirements and acquisition methods, co-ordinate defence research efforts. We should progressively move beyond strictly national approaches, which entail added costs and sometimes a waste of resources, to build a common approach in these fields.' The BBC sees the Rapid Reaction Force running into difficulties: 'It will have trouble deploying quickly, trouble defending itself if a conflict suddenly intensifies, and trouble taking part in more than one major operation at any one time.' Concern has been expressed, according to the Financial Times, that Member States are failing to put sufficient resources into defence. Part of the reason, argue Germany, France and Italy is that the Stability and Growth Pact which underpins the single currency, is squeezing public budgets - and defence is one of the casualties. They want to see the rules relaxed, so that more money can be made available to boost the Union's military capabilities. The FT revealed that 'None of the 10 air-to-ground surveillance aircraft pledged by member states has yet materialised. Britain is the only country providing helicopter carrier ships, outsize cargo aircraft and roll-on roll-off ships required by the headline goal.' Links:
Eric Davies At a Capabilities Conference on 19 May 2003 EU Defence Ministers discussed the Union's progress towards establishing its own rapid reaction force. |
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| Subject Categories | Security and Defence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
