Brussels, 09/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - EU defence ministers have “encouraged” the European Defence Agency (EDA) to step up its work in order to help identify areas that may give rise to the sharing and pooling of means, especially with the possible setting up of a Wise Pen Team. In the conclusions adopted on 9 December on military capability development, the Council nonetheless said that the role of the Agency should take into account the “diversity of experiences across the member states and (…) support member states in their voluntary efforts to implement pooling and sharing initiatives”. The Council tasked the Political and Security Committee (PSC) to “remain seized of this matter and agreed to examine progress by mid 2011”. Meeting in the absence of the Spanish, Italian and United Kingdom defence ministers, the Council also formally supported the conclusions of the informal Ghent meeting, underlining the need to transform the financial crisis and its consequences on national defence budgets into an opportunity to be seized, in the aim of giving “a new impetus to European military capability development in order to meet its level of ambition”. In addition to encouraging strengthened cooperation in the field of capability development, the Council also underlined the advantages that could arise from the setting in place of civil-military synergies and, within this framework, dual-use civil and military capabilities. In this respect, the Council placed emphasis on the need for greater cooperation between the European Defence Agency and the European Commission, especially on research and technology. The Council also reaffirmed the need to continue deepening cooperation with NATO on military capabilities, “adhering to the principles of inclusiveness and autonomy of decision-making”. High Representative Catherine Ashton is invited to report on the state of progress of all work by mid-2011. (A.By./transl.jl)