EU defence ministers are meeting in Zagreb on Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 March for an informal meeting to discuss the EU's ongoing actions in this area.
Ministers will start their work at a dinner on Wednesday, where they will discuss the EU's operational priorities with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
The EU currently has 17 Common Security and Defence Policy missions around the world: 11 civilian and 6 military. Ministers may focus in particular on EU missions in the Sahel, including the strategic review of the mandate of EUTM Mali (see EUROPE 12409/23) and the future mission to monitor the arms embargo on Libya (see EUROPE 12427/4). According to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ministers should also be informed about NATO and UN activities in these regions and will discuss current and future cooperation between the different organisations, for example in Iraq (see EUROPE 12433/6).
Alongside the dinner, the Memorandum of Understanding on a Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) project on Cyber Rapid Response Teams (CRRTs) and Mutual Assistance in Cyber Security will be signed by six Member States (Croatia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania).
On Thursday morning, ministers will discuss the various European defence initiatives, including the strategic review of PESCO. The annual report on PESCO should be published this month and will serve as a basis for the adoption of the strategic review in May by the EU Council (see EUROPE 12428/17). PESCO commitments, projects and working methods will be examined during this review.
Finally, the ministers will conclude their meeting with a discussion on the future 'strategic compass'. "This compass is a political and strategic document that the Member States" have asked the Commission and the European External Action Service "to prepare in order to better define our security and defence objectives, identify threats and give new impetus to our initiatives", explained the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, on 11 February. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)