Brussels, 18/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - European defence ministers met up on Tuesday 18 November in Brussels. As part of their EU Foreign Affairs Council “Defence” session they made a customary examination of the different operations missions the EU is currently conducting and on this occasion focused on two of them: the military operation in the Central African Republic EUFOR CAR and the naval operation tackling piracy off the Somali coast, EUNAVFOR Atalanta.
On the subject of the EUFOR CAR, ministers kicked off an initial discussion on what the EU ought to do following the end of the mission's mandate, which has just been extended until 15 March 2015. In the conclusions adopted, the Council recognised “the need for a common approach with the United Nations in the Central African Republic with regard to reform of the security forces” in an effort to, “stabilise the situation, in support of the political process” once the European operation comes to an end. The European External Action Service (EEAS) was in charge of preparing a crisis management modelling concept in this regard and according to a senior EU military leader, several options should be examined, even though the general framework appears to have been decided. The EU's objective is to ensure support in the future for training the armed forces in the CAR. This will not involve a training mission but rather support in the form of advice, “the volume of which will be lower than during the time and capability” of EUFOR CAR, explained the senior military official.
Ministers also looked at the new EUNAVFOR Atalanta operational plan (OPLAN). This plan is expected to be adopted by the Council over the next few days and will not fundamentally change the framework of the operation's action but rather, introduce a number of new cooperation opportunities (secondary operational tasks) with other activities carried out by the EU in Somalia and the Horn of Africa. The most significant novelty, however, is the fact that the operation commander will have around a year to prepare an exit strategy, despite the operation being maintained until December 2016. (JK)