On Friday 16 November the European External Action Service announced the launch of a major civil-military crisis management exercise on Monday 19 November EU-HEX-ML 18 (PACE).
"It is the first time the EU leads a crisis management and response exercise of this scale", according to the EEAS.
The objective is to improve and strengthen the EU's ability to respond to a complex crisis of a hybrid nature with an internal and external dimension as well as cooperation with NATO, according to the Council. The exercise will focus on the link between external and internal security.
The launch of this exercise was preceded by a two-week phase during which the EEAS planned the deployment of a civilian mission and a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) military mission to assist a fictitious third country facing a major security threat and requesting EU support.
From Monday onwards, "the EU and its Member States will be testing their response capacities by reacting to fictitious high intensity hybrid attacks inside the European Union, while using all the available crisis mechanisms, including the EU Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR), EU Civil Protection Mechanism, Energy or Health crisis mechanisms." the EEAS stated in its publication. The exercise will cover critical areas that are likely to be affected by hybrid attacks, including energy, IT, health, maritime policies, consular, Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and strategic communication.
Experts from the Commission, the EEAS, the General Secretariat of the Council, Member States and EU agencies, such as the European Coast Guard and Europol, will participate in the exercise. Norway will participate as a third country and Switzerland as an observer.
EU-HEX-ML 18 (PACE) will be conducted in parallel with a NATO Military Staff Command Post Exercise, in order to further develop the interaction between the two organisations in situational awareness, cyber, crisis response and strategic communication in crisis situations.
This exercise will be discussed at the Defence Council on 20 November (see other news). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)