After several videoconferences devoted mainly to the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, this time the Defence Ministers will discuss the challenges for the future of European defence (see EUROPE 12497/17).
They should first of all look at strengthening the EU’s operational engagement. The redeployment, as soon as conditions permit, of EU missions and operations after the pandemic (see EUROPE 12469/21) will therefore be discussed. “The idea is to organise, plan, prepare the redeployment” of missions, explained a senior official.
More broadly, Ministers will discuss the issue of force generations. According to one source, the new Irini mission and the EUTM Mali mission, whose mandate has been extended (see EUROPE 12452/23), could be mentioned by name. The discussion should enable the High Representative of the Union, Josep Borrell, to come back to the European Peace Facility, which should make it possible to finance equipment, including lethal equipment, for partner countries.
The meeting should also focus on the progress hoped for in European defence initiatives, in particular permanent structured cooperation (PESCO) and the ‘strategic compass’. According to one source, Ministers are expected to adopt recommendations on the implementation of PESCO. This will pave the way for a revision of the PESCO decision by the end of 2020 (see EUROPE 12428/17). The aim of the debate is also to prepare the new phase of cooperation for the 2021-2025 period.
Ministers are also expected to launch work on the strategic compass (see EUROPE 12438/17), together with the threat analysis. This compass should make it possible to define new objectives and orientations in terms of security and defence. According to a senior official, ministers will ask the intelligence services of the 27 Member States to indicate how their states view the main challenges facing the EU. This document will serve as a basis for the development of this compass, which should begin in 2021 with the aim of adoption in the first half of 2022, during the French Presidency of the Council of the EU.
The meeting will also discuss resources allocated to defence, with the European Defence Fund (EDF), the European Peace Facility (see EUROPE 12497/3) and military mobility (see EUROPE 12503/22, 12444/15). The latest Commission proposal allocates €8 billion to the EDF and €1.5 billion to military mobility (see EUROPE 12494/1). The facility, located outside the EU budget, could also be allocated €8 billion.
Finally, Ministers are expected to discuss the adaptation of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) structures, in particular the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC), to be reviewed at the end of the year. The MPCC is currently in charge of the three non-executive training missions, but it could manage EU executive operations in the future. The EU currently has three: Althea, Atalanta and Irini.
Ahead of this videoconference, the Steering Board of the European Defence Agency will be convened virtually. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)