A hearing in the European Parliament's Security and Defence Subcommittee on 'Reviewing Permanent Structured Cooperation: the way forward' on Monday 17 February highlighted the need to make changes in the implementation of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PSC or PESCO).
The annual report on PSC is expected to be published at the end of March. It will serve as a basis for the adoption of a strategic review in May by the EU Council. The EU Council will also adopt the revision of the 2017 Council Decision, probably in the autumn. For its part, Parliament will prepare a recommendation, to be drafted by Radosław Sikorski (EPP, Poland).
One of the objectives of the revision is to strengthen the coherence between the 47 projects adopted so far. For example, according to Arnout Molenaar, Head of the Security Policy Unit of the European External Action Service, the discussion is about how the different projects could be grouped together to find synergies, for example, bringing together projects which touch on cybernetics.
Jean-Pierre Maulny, an IRIS researcher on defence issues, went further by proposing "5 or 6 strategic functions", under which the projects would be grouped. He added that this would also allow projects that are similar or not progressing to be terminated. However, Mr Molenaar said that "the PSC must be given time for the projects to have an impact", noting that the cooperation had only been in place for 2 years.
According to Lars Schümann, Head of the 'Concepts' Division at the EU Military Staff, future projects should focus on "the capability gaps that need to be filled in order to be in line with the demands of some Member States to focus on results". "We are filling the capacity gaps. That should be the driving force behind PSC, but it is not currently the case", he said with regret.
Another objective of the review is to reinforce the binding commitments made so far. "We should not expect miracles but the review is an opportunity to observe or reinforce things and to refine them", warned Mr Molenaar
According to him, the review will also address the alignment of the PSC with the Common Security and Defence Policy and its possible interaction with the European Defence Fund or the European Peace Facility.
In response to these remarks, Alessandro Cignoni, Head of the PSC Unit at the European Defence Agency, called for patience. "The PSC is not magic, but it is a very useful instrument available to Member States. In 2 years, they have started to build cooperation and team spirit", he added, calling it a success of the PSC. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)